Points of View
by intrasonic
Summary: SO3: A collection of scenes interspersed throughout the game's plot, focusing mainly on Nel as she comes to grips with a rapidly changing worldview. [Complete]
1. Chapter 1

Valley of the Wind Productions presents   
Points of View   
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic   
by Intrasonic

* * *

Author's Prologue: This is a rather abstract collection of scenes that I put together on a whim, more than anything. One thing that the game didn't go into much detail about is how the various Elicoorians dealt with being suddenly exposed to the higher technology environments. These scenes are interposed throughout the game, but they are, of course, entirely hypothetical in nature. For obvious reasons, I'm going to assume the reader is familiar with the game.

* * *

Setting: After first arriving in Peterny

* * *

Everyone has bad days.

Nel Zelphyr was having a bad day today.

She'd had a bad day yesterday, too. And the day before yesterday. And the day before that.

Not to put too fine of a point on it, but it hadn't been a good week, and tomorrow wasn't looking promising.

An observer who understood her official position would have rationalized that since she was an elite fighter in a kingdom that was mounting a slowly dwindling defence against an attacking kingdom, she had plenty of reason to be unhappy. But that was an issue that she had learned to deal with years ago.

No, her present mood was something more out of the ordinary. It stemmed from something new, unexpected, and irritating. Two somethings, to be exact.

"Yo, Nel!"

Nel exhaled noisily but turned to face half of the blame for her present mood. "Cliff."

The big man grinned as he approached her, his usual swagger in full force. "How's it hanging?"

"It's not," she replied evenly. "'It's' working. Hard. Unlike you, it seems."

"Don't be like that," he protested good-naturedly. "I was gathering valuable cultural information over in the East side of this city."

"You were visiting the pub," she interpreted.

"Oh, that's what they call it here, too? Don't worry, I didn't have to use my fists for any diplomatic relations."

"You'd be _amazed_ how many people refrain from doing so on a regular basis," she pointed out, unable to help herself.

"Yeah, well, you'd be amazed how often that doesn't seem to work for me."

Cliff was, Nel had earlier decided, an extremely unique individual. The way he strutted around, his rather obvious physique, his brash and combative demeanour... quite frankly, it was easy to write him off as a generic asshole. Unfortunately, Nel had been in his company long enough to notice a few other things about him.

Most obvious was the fact that he knew how to fight. And fight well, which was actually an entirely different thing altogether. Fayt certainly had some talent and potential, but his style still smacked of too much training and too little practical experience (although the past few days had been steadily remedying that issue).

In contrast, Cliff displayed no such shortcomings, to the point where Nel seriously doubted her ability to carry through with her threat to kill them for non-cooperation. It was a hard pill to swallow, but not as hard as Cliff had hit Airyglyph's chief inquisitor during the jailbreak. Seeing someone _dodge_ a whip and then sucker-punch an overweight man into the _ceiling_ had quickly forced her to reconsider the situation that she'd just engineered. As skilled as Nel knew she was, it was obvious that a more subtle attack would be required.

Which Cliff also seemed capable of handling, considering that he'd apparently been awake when, in a burst of sentimentality, she'd tried to pay her respects before heading off to rescue two of her people in the middle of the night. _That_ type of behaviour smacked of someone who didn't turn his danger sense off at night.

In conjunction with his fighting abilities was Nel's rapidly growing conclusion that he might not, in fact, be a complete idiot. Act like one, certainly, on a repeated basis. But when she really thought about it, she was forced to admit that between him and Fayt, Cliff had been behind the tactical decisions thus far, not to mention their somewhat suspicious backstory. And in retrospect, more than half of the details of their story had been supplied by her, Cliff drawing them out and merely confirming what she'd thought was likely.

"Hey, you okay?" Cliff inquired.

And now she was reduced to worrying about killing the people she was supposed to escort, Nel reflected disgustedly. "I'm fine."

"So... bad news on the war front, huh?"

She blinked, briefly taken aback. "Were you-"

"Nah, I wasn't spying on you. But if were in your position, that'd be the first thing I'd check on whenever I reached a town. And you had a 'bad news' look on your face before I got your attention. So the war isn't getting any better, is it?"

"It's war. It never gets better, just over."

Cliff's face took on a thoughtful look. "So... it's only a matter of time before Airyglyph wins this war, isn't it?"

Nel glowered. "With an attitude like that, I'm glad you're not on our side."

"But you're supposed to _want_ us on your side, remember?"

Annoyingly enough, Cliff was right.

* * *

By the time evening came around, Nel's mood had failed to improve. As nice as it was to see Fayt friendly with a local girl, it clearly hadn't made him reconsider his position on helping Aquarias in the war. Even worse, Cliff was consistently displaying a bizarre and uncharacteristic degree of spinelessness on the issue, only saying that he would support whatever Fayt decided. She held faint hope that a good night's sleep would improve her mood, but knew better than to get her hopes up. More likely, she would wind up brooding over the matter all night. 

She had shucked the majority of her weapons and armour (although her line of work didn't allow for completely unarmed sleeping), and was preparing to resign herself to her fate, when a quiet knock sounded at the door.

"Who is it?" she demanded.

"It's me. You decent?"

Cliff. "Come in."

Taking the invitation at face value, Cliff entered the room, shutting it quietly behind him. "Hey."

"Can I help you?" she inquired, her curiosity honest for the moment.

"Kind of," the man admitted. "Seeing you and Fayt go at it this evening is starting to wear a little thin."

"You're one to talk," she replied, trying to keep her tone of voice even and failing.

"Look," he began, "I know you're pissed at us, even if you try to hide it. And I'll admit you've got a few things to be angry about."

Damned right. "Oh?"

Cliff closed his eyes briefly, before opening them and gesturing towards a chair. "You mind if I have a seat?"

"By all means," she agreed.

Turning the chair around backwards, he sat down heavily, folding his arms over the chair's back. Uncharacteristically, his face held an expression of heavy concentration. "Look... I just want to try and explain a few things. I know we've been giving you a lot of run-around over this business-"

"Oh? You mean, you're _not_ really engineers from Greeton?" she snapped, unable to help herself. "I _never_ would have guessed."

Cliff couldn't keep himself from grinning. "Aw, come on. For spur-of-the-moment, it's a pretty good cover story, right?"

"Where are you from, really?"

He shook his head regretfully. "I was kind of hoping I could put it into perspective for you, actually. Or try to, anyway."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Let me put a... hypothetical situation to you. You've got... scientists who study ancient cultures, right? Primitive tribes and nations, that kind of stuff? From thousands, or even millions of years ago?"

"A few. The study is not as common as it used to be, however. The war doesn't allow for the resources."

"You know what I'm talking about, though. Basically, once upon a time, people were more primitive, right? Using sticks and stones for weapons, hadn't even discovered how to make fire yet? That kind of thing?"

"I get the idea, yes," Nel allowed, managing to keep her impatience from showing.

"Now... let's suppose that there were two groups of these primitive peoples. And they were fighting each other in a huge war. And you suddenly found yourself, by accident, in the middle of this war."

Nel narrowed her eyes. "If you're implying that-"

"Whoa, let me finish, okay? Maybe you think you can see what I'm getting at, but this is just the beginning, okay?"

She nodded stiffly. "Two primitive groups are fighting. I get involved by accident, and I possess considerably more advanced knowledge that could easily help either side. Can I assume these 'primitive tribes' both wish for 'my' assistance?"

Cliff nodded. "Yeah, that's a pretty safe bet. And for what it's worth, you're definitely in favour of one side. So... you got this scenario in your head?"

"Yes."

"Good, because here's the catch. Your ruler... you've got a queen, right? Right. Let's say that your queen back home has given you a command. Not just some ordinary command, but a _big_ command. Right up there with 'don't murder' and 'don't commit treason'. An important command, see? You'd want to carry it out, right?"

"Of course," she allowed, her curiosity perked. "And... this command?"

"Let's suppose that the command went something like this - you're not allowed to associate with primitive tribes, _at all_. If you _do_ accidentally come in contact with them, you've got to minimize your impact. Don't tell them anything, don't help them, don't hurt them... basically, don't let your presence change _anything_. Don't even give them any ideas or concepts. No matter what the justification might be at the time. To do otherwise is a serious crime, of the highest order."

Nel sighed, feeling some of her ire start to drain from her. "I think I can see what you're driving at."

Cliff shrugged. "You can at least see the reasoning behind the law, right? Imagine going to a bunch of a people who hadn't even discovered fire, and giving them some steel weapons and armour. Or runological spells. How long is it going to be before the people with the knowledge go and kill other people? By accident, even? And don't try and tell me that everybody's going to be peaceful and happy and responsible all the time."

She didn't. She wasn't sure she'd _ever_ be that optimistic about people. "Am I to understand that you and Fayt are under a similar law?"

He gave her a lopsided smile. "Well... that's the funny part, actually. Fayt's under that law, and he believes in it. Me, I don't really give a damn about the government that put that law in place."

"So your reasoning for not helping...?"

"Well, I'm in a bit of tight spot. I'm trying to keep Fayt safe, but I also need him friendly to me and my group. So I can't go and break that law, but if he's willing to break it, I've got no problem backing him up."

Nel shook her head, trying to piece everything together. "I see."

"It's not much, I know," Cliff allowed. "But sometimes it helps to understand a little about where the other person is coming from, even if you don't agree with them."

"It's an easy law to support when the existence of your 'tribe' isn't at stake."

"Yeah, I know. But you harping on Fayt like you are isn't going to change things. With his type, if you pressure him, he just automatically pushes back. He's a good kid, but he's been a little sheltered his entire life, and this whole 'war' business is really sending him for a loop. And on top of that, I wasn't lying when I said that his father is being held captive. So he's got a lot on his mind lately."

"I see." Partly, at least.

Cliff stood, replacing the chair under the desk. "I'll let you get some sleep. Just wanted to, I dunno, try and help things a little, that's all."

She nodded. "For the record, I _do_ appreciate it. It's... food for thought."

"Yeah. Try not to worry too much - Fayt's a good kid. That law of his is far away, and this war is really close. I have a hunch that he'll crack pretty soon."

"I hope so. I really do."

"So you should probably tell that hot-looking brunette operative of yours back in Aquios that seducing Fayt isn't the way to go."

Nel couldn't help but laugh. "You overheard her, did you? Rest assured, I vetoed _that_ plan quite quickly. I think it was merely a case of youthful infatuation."

"I doubt it would have worked," Cliff assured her. "Now, if that girl wants to try seducing _me_-"

"Go to sleep, you pig."

* * *

end   



	2. Chapter 2

Valley of the Wind Productions presents   
Points of View   
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic   
by Intrasonic

* * *

Setting: Castle Aquaria, Runological Weapon Research Facility

* * *

"You'll want to reinforce _here_ and _here_, to keep the device from tearing itself apart when it fires. And if you want to make it mobile, this area looks pretty fragile. You'll want to insulate it from any shocks or bumps..." 

Nel looked on from across the room, more than a little impressed with Fayt. Apparently, despite his earlier protestations, he was more than capable of delivering the assistance that she had always hoped for. Admittedly, she had still harboured some doubts, even after he initially declared his intention to help out. But by this point, those doubts were gone, replaced by the evidence of her own eyes and ears. 

And lo, it was a good feeling. 

And not only that, he had been quick to volunteer to assist on an expedition to gather some necessary copper from the Bequeral Mines... it was almost enough to make her feel a little guilty. 

And a little curious, that someone so young would know so much. He didn't strike her as the studious type, like Dion, yet talked about certain things as though he took the knowledge for granted... 

Cliff was next to her, seemingly content to watch the scene from afar. He and Fayt had engaged in some last minute discussions when seeing the weapon, but there had been no sudden reversals of decisions made, and things were finally progressing. 

Glancing sideways, Nel gave him a small smile. "Well, it looks like your hunch was correct," she admitted. 

"My hunches are _always_ correct," he agreed modestly. "He's a good kid, like I said. Pretty bright, too." 

"What about you? I saw you making a few suggestions too." 

Cliff brushed the comment aside. "Nah, I'm just a field grunt." 

"If you say so. Although, I couldn't help but notice that, for a 'field grunt', you displayed a surprising degree of royal etiquette when meeting my queen." 

"Eh, nothing wrong with being polite once in a while, right?" 

"Or even on a regular basis, but I would hate for you to strain yourself." 

"Ouch." 

"So tell me, are we as much of a 'primitive tribe' as you originally thought? If your conversation with Fayt was any indication, we appear to be more advanced in some areas than you expected." 

Cliff gave her a surprised look, but it soon faded into a more resigned one. "You're a chronic eavesdropper, aren't you?" 

"On matters of my country's security," she agreed, unrepentant. "Or perhaps your race's hearing is less acute than mine?" 

"Could be, could be. But don't think this changes much. I'm not going into details, but that comparison I gave you the other day wasn't much of an exaggeration. This place is nowhere near advanced enough to justify what Fayt's doing right now." 

Nel frowned, having almost forgotten about a piece of Cliff's earlier explanation. "He will... be punished for this?" 

"He'll have a lot of answer for, yeah. Worse case scenario, he could be seeing some pretty serious prison time. But he knew that before he agreed, so let it be. If you want to go against the rules, you've got to be willing to face the consequences, right?" 

Nel nodded, making a mental bookmark to make sure Fayt knew how grateful she was for his assistance. The rest of her mind was busy trying to process what Cliff had claimed regarding the 'advancement' of her people. She could admit that that wherever Fayt and Cliff were _really_ from, it clearly possessed knowledge and abilities beyond what Aquarias and Airyglyph could claim. But how far beyond them could it possibly be? 

Sharper swords? Stronger armour? While valuable, such things weren't exactly earth-shattering in nature. She had already had opportunity to see that Cliff's clothing, despite it's lightness and flexibility, possessed a toughness and durability to rival heavy chain mail. Interesting, but still only a difference of refinement, surely. 

There was the flying object they had crashed into Airyglyph with, but even flight wasn't entirely unthinkable. Elena and Dion had occasionally toyed with levitation spells in the past, although nothing yet was developed enough for practical use. But that still didn't seem adequate to classify her people as a 'primitive tribe' by comparison. 

So what exactly made the difference?

* * *

end 


	3. Chapter 3

Valley of the Wind Productions presents   
Points of View   
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic   
by Intrasonic

* * *

**Setting:** Castle Aquaria, post-aborted-war...

* * *

What exactly made the difference? 

If there was ever a question that Nel wished had never been answered, she knew it now.

Hundreds, even _thousands_ dead.

She could rationalize it anyway she wanted to, but the central fact remained the same: a single, giant, flying object had appeared from nowhere, and proceeded to completely massacre both Airyglyph's and Aquarias' armies in a time span of minutes.

Damned _minutes_.

And even more telling had been the lack of surprise from Cliff and Fayt. They had been worried, but they had known _exactly_ what the object was, and what it was capable of.

Nel wondered how far her people would have to advance before they could take something like _that_ for granted. As far as she was concerned, it was painfully obvious that a more advanced civilization didn't bother with sharper weapons - they'd simply made swords obsolete altogether.

Somehow, that concerned Nel far more than Fayt's strange display afterwards that had destroyed the giant object. At least she could attribute Fayt's actions, involuntary though they might have been, to some incredibly powerful runology...

On a related note, Fayt was still recovering from his ordeal, and Cliff was keeping an eye on him. Not trusting herself to stay patient and quiet while waiting for the boy to recover, Nel had instead opted to see how the girl, Ameena, was faring. It was perhaps rather strange that she would be so concerned about one person, when so many were already dead, but she could at least rationalize that, after rescuing the girl from the forest, she had a vested interest in the girl's welfare. And having her safe would give Dion additional incentive to recover from his own severe battle injuries.

"Any change?" Nel inquired, quietly entering the room where Ameena lay resting.

Mirage shook her head regretfully, still sitting in the same chair that Nel had seen her before the battle had started. "I'm afraid not. If our people were here, we could possibly do something, but..."

"Do you expect them to come?"

"It's only a matter of time."

The third outsider to enter the picture, Nel still hadn't been in contact with Mirage long enough to get used to her, but a few things had seemed fairly obvious before long. To understate the matter, she was a marked contrast to Fayt or Cliff. Calm, placid, and quite reserved, she almost seemed out of place compared to her male companions.

"How did _you_ arrive here?" Nel wanted to know.

"The way Cliff and Fayt did."

"That flying object? But they captured Fayt and Cliff-"

"Cliff had me stay inside when he and Fayt gave themselves up. I left under the cover of darkness."

"I see."

"Two groups can do more than one, and I'm better at being stealthy than Cliff is."

"And what if you'd been discovered?"

A shrug. "I can take care of myself."

"Oh really?"

"Do you really think Cliff and Fayt would abandon someone who couldn't?"

Point. After all, Nel reflected, neither had shown any hesitation about rushing to back _her_ up on her rescue mission. And Cliff _had_ vouched for her earlier when asking Fayt if he wanted her to back to them up...

Except that Mirage didn't exactly look like a fighter, having a definite air of non-combativeness about her demeanour and stance. She was also, to put it mildly, strikingly beautiful. Were Nel ever inclined to be so petty, the woman in front of her would have definitely managed to spark some jealousy in her.

Then again, looking harmless could be both useful and deceiving, as Nel knew full well herself. "If you're such a good fighter, why didn't you back us up before?"

"Because Cliff asked Fayt what he wanted, and Fayt wanted someone to watch over Ameena."

"And because of what Fayt wanted, you just sat back and waited?"

"If I hadn't, Fayt would have been worried, which might have distracted him. My coming along would have done more harm than good."

As alien as the logic was to Nel's operational style, she couldn't argue it. "I suppose you're a lot stronger than you look, just like Cliff?" she inquired.

"That's right. We're both Klausian."

Nel's brow furrowed. "Klausian? That's... your race?"

"That's right."

"I've never heard of your race."

"I wouldn't think so." Mirage agreed. She smiled, as though enjoying a private joke. "Most of us live a long ways away from here."

It was starting annoy Nel. "Do all Klausians enjoy double-talk so much, or is it just you and Cliff?"

"I'm sorry?"

"This secrecy is beginning to get irritating. Apparently my people are so primitive that we don't deserve complete answers to our questions."

"That's news to me."

"Oh really? Cliff told me that there's some sort of law preventing you from interacting with so-called 'primitive tribes'."

Mirage shook her head ruefully. "Cliff and his 'explanations'... The proper term is 'underdeveloped cultures'. And the organization that Cliff and I belong to doesn't follow that law."

"But you want to stay on Fayt's good side, right?"

"There is that, but that's not the only reason. We don't specifically uphold that law because we don't agree with the organization that made it. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have some good reasoning behind it."

"I would certainly _hope_ so," Nel snapped. "A good enough reason for my people to be kept in the dark after being slaughtered like cattle!"

Mirage didn't even look perturbed by the outburst. "As opposed to what was happening already?"

Nel gritted her teeth, deliberately ignoring any grains of truth in the statement. "There is _huge_ difference between the war and what just happened. And I don't appreciate being kept in the dark on a matter that threatens my country!"

"We're sorry, but unfortunately, _we're_ in the dark about a great deal of this ourselves, especially regarding Fayt's little display earlier."

Somehow, Nel almost found that comforting. Almost.

"You should keep an eye on Fayt," Mirage suggested. "I'll stay here and watch Ameena."

Nel gave the blond-haired woman a level glance, which might have bounced off for all the effect it had. "Fine. I'll do that."

* * *

"We've got trouble! Another one of those weapons has appeared in the sky!" 

"Damn!"

"Is it a weapon from Greeton?"

"Then what is it? What is a 'Vendeeni'?"

The White Dew Garden was a balcony that had originally been built to allow the ruler of Aquarias to survey a considerable portion of the land she ruled. Located immediately to the rear of the throne room, it was a conveniently located, but private place that had doubtlessly served as a place of solitude for many rulers, both past and present. It was also, to believe some rumours, a conveniently located, but private place for many illicit affairs.

It was also, Nel was realizing for the first time, an excellent place for scouting for aerial attacks. She doubted the designers had ever intended it as such, but it was hard to argue with the crystal clear view of the massive flying object that slowly floated towards the castle.

The 'Vendeeni', the outsiders had called the harbringer of death. She would have cheerfully settled for "Mass murdering bastards", but all name-calling would do was remind her how vulnerable her kingdom was in the face of that monstrosity...

"Damn!" Cliff growled, apparently no less pleased than she was. "What now?"

Fayt had the look of someone who had been thinking far too much recently. "I'll give myself up. Then they'll leave."

Which was probably the reason, Nel decided, that she was having so much trouble hating the outsiders, despite the trouble that had followed them to her kingdom. It wasn't as though the notion hadn't already occurred to her, but she had quickly determined how repugnant the idea was to her. Enemies were for killing, but friends - and that was what they were, she was certain - were to be protected. Somehow.

"Fayt, no!" It was about time that Mirage finally showed some signs of agitation.

"That's enough of that!" Amazingly enough, Cliff looked genuinely angry as he glared at Fayt. "You say that again and I swear I'll smack you one!"

"Cliff, calm down. Anger won't solve anything." Mirage gracefully interposed herself between the two, her back to Cliff. "But he's right, Fayt."

"..." was Nel's contribution to the issue. Somehow, the two Klausian's sudden vehemence didn't strike her as a run-of-the-mill burst of morality. In fact, the woman was beginning to _seriously_ doubt Mirage's earlier claim about being in the dark over this entire matter.

"Then what should we do?" Fayt demanded of them, looking frustrated. "This country's military doesn't stand a chance against the Vendeeni ships!"

_Ships_. Nel had already picked up that the giant, flying, killing object was known as a 'ship' by the outsiders, despite its obvious lack of any need for water. And in case the earlier references had just been coincidence, once again she was hearing the word deliberately used in the plural sense. Which suggested that, even if a miracle occurred that allowed them to stop _this_ ship like the earlier one, there were plenty more that could be sent afterwards. Simply _wonderful_.

"Hey..." Fayt seemed to have an idea. "But you chased away the Vendeeni ship before! Why not do it again?"

There was a moment of stunned silence.

Nel blinked, trying to understand the statement. Chase away?

Mirage sighed wearily. "It's as I thought."

Cliff mirrored her gesture as he shook his head at Fayt. "You don't remember a thing, do you?"

The boy drew back under the sudden scrutiny. "What are you talking about?"

The others exchanged strained glances, possibly trying to decide on a diplomatic and tactful way of telling him that a strange light had burst from his forehead and erased the first Vendeeni ship from existence. When there were no takers, fate provided a diversion from the topic at hand.

Nel was the first to hear it, almost sounding like a slightly higher pitched echo of the Vendeeni's ship's ominous rumble. She immediately swivelled her gaze towards the sky again, scanning for the cause...

Another floating object was breaking through the clouds, the silvery appearance contrasting sharply with the red-orange colouring of the first. It was also moving faster, and clearly headed directly for the first ship.

"Another one's coming!" she exclaimed, cursing inwardly.

Mirage's face broke into a smile. "Cliff!"

Cliff grinned. "Yep, it's them. Finally."

It took a minute for Nel to understand the implications behind their conversation, but when it did, she dared to match their smile. All this time, they'd been on the receiving end of the attacks, but was it finally possible that a ship had arrived that was on _their_ side?

Even as she watched alongside the rest of the group, repeated blasts of white energy lashed out from the silver ship, impacting squarely along orange ship's side. Within seconds, flames and smoke could be seen to pour from the reeling ship. Several seconds later, a similar salvo of energy leapt back from the orange ship to the silver ship, rocking the target similarly.

Several seconds later, the sounds of the explosions finally reached the group, sounding like nothing so much as a mechanical combination of high powered runology and a thunderstorm combined. More flashes of energy were exchanged between the ships, the sounds once again reaching them only after a prolonged period of silence.

Nel sucked in a breath, having only just realized she'd been going without. As absurd as it sounded, she knew she was watching a duel. A duel between two giant ships, each one more than capable of obliterating an entire kingdom with their weapons, but evenly matched against each other...

And to judge from the expressions on Cliff and Mirage's face, they didn't find anything unusual about it. They looked concerned, but the scene before them was apparently commonplace enough to warrant nothing further.

Nel exhaled noisily at the realization, unable to keep from feeling a little embarrassed at her own awe. The massacre by the first Vendeeni ship had been bad enough, but to learn that such power was _normal_...

Just how accurate was Cliff's 'primitive tribe' comparison after all?

What _else_ was considered 'normal' by these outsiders?

Drama lives for such questions.

Even as Nel's ears heard the beginnings of a quiet humming noise behind her, she turned to address it. And was treated to the sight of a person appearing out of thin air, at the top of the balcony steps.

It was a young woman, with long blue hair, dressed in what could possibly be combination of a dress uniform and combat armour. She carried no obvious weapons that Nel could see, unless the strange contraption attached to her belt somehow filled that duty.

The woman smiled as her gaze immediately focused on the group. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

* * *

It was, a small part of Nel reflected, entirely possible that Cliff had been right in calling her a chronic evesdropper. But there was, she would have insisted, absolutely nothing wrong about what she was doing at the moment. 

After all, what she had done was provide a room for the outsiders to conference between themselves, exactly as her majesty, the queen, had ordered.

It was simply coincidence that the room Nel had chosen happened to have a thin door. And Nel would trust no one but herself for the duty of standing guard outside to make sure they weren't disturbed during their conferencing. And she'd been feeling very tired lately, with all the commotion lately, so much that she felt the need to lean against something, such as the door, for support. And it was quite accidental that one ear happened to be resting against the door.

No, like it or not, it appeared Nel was stuck having to overhear any conversations inside the room. She would simply have to endure it quietly. Very, very, quietly.

It wasn't as though she was disobeying any orders from her queen. As per orders, she had refrained from pestering them with questions. And it was only natural for her to be concerned about a group of people who had been closely tied with to the recent cataclysmic events. And if they happened to alleviate some of her (admittedly) near-rabid curiosity, what harm could there possibly be?

It's unknown whether Aquarias' religion has an equivalent to Hell, but Nel probably would not have appreciated being told what the road to it is paved with.

Further fruitless contemplation was halted in favour of listening to the conversation inside.

_"Maria, please tell me what happened. Why did the Vendeeni capture my dad?"_ That was Fayt, who apparently really _did_ have a kidnapped father. _"Why are they after me? ...What is it about me that they're so interested in?"_

_"Relax, there's no need to rush things, and there's much to explain."_ That was the newest arrival, Maria. _"But first... his powers manifested, didn't they?"_

_"They did, just once. He was stronger than expected. Particularly, his destructive capabilities are far beyond yours."_ That was Cliff, sounding remarkably _not_ in awe of recent events.

_"And his memory?"_

_"Nah. The whole thing was completely wiped from his mind."_

_"I see..."_

_"What in the world are you guys talking about?"_ Fayt again, probably tired of being talked past by people who knew more than he did. As far as Nel was concerned, it was about time he found himself on the receiving end of it.

Apparently, to judge from the conversation, Fayt also had a kidnapped friend named Sophia. And both her and his father were being held by the Vendeeni.

_"So tell me what's going on!"_ That was Fayt again, once again growing impatient. Nel once again marvelled at her own lack of sympathy for him in this matter.

_"Fine. Your father took it upon himself to carry out forbidden research."_

_"Forbidden research?"_

_"That's right. He researched and designed a genetically modified, living weapon - forbidden by the laws of the Pangalactic Federation."_

_"My father? I can't believe it!"_

_"Of course he didn't talk about it. Other than those involved, only the top levels of the Federation government knew anything."_

_"Then how come you know about it?"_

_"I was one of his...guinea pigs."_

_"What...?"_

_"I'll never forgive them."_

_"My dad... I-I can't believe this! Living weapons? You...a guinea pig? You just look like an ordinary girl!"_

There was a brief pause.

_"Exactly. Watch this."_

Even as the room went silent, Nel strained to make out any sounds that might suggest what Maria might be doing to demonstrate that she might not be so ordinary...

Suffice to say, Nel was _not_ expecting a loud explosion, coupled closely with the sound of breaking pottery. Whatever was making Maria so extraordinary, it clearly involved some violence. But even as Nel braced herself to charge the room, she could hear the young woman resume talking...

_"This is the power I received from the symbological genetic modifications that Professor Leingod and his lab performed on me. I possess the ability to manipulate the structure of matter. So...still think I'm an ordinary girl?"_

_"But...why would my father do such a thing?"_

_"And not just to me."_

_"What?"_

_"I wasn't the only one they modified. Another came before me - I was the second subject."_

_"What are you saying?"_

_"The first subject...was you."_

_"Me? The first subject? What are you talking about? My dad would never do something like that to me!"_

_"I can understand if you don't believe me. Your power hasn't fully awakened yet. But if I'm not telling the truth, can you explain the thing for me? Who knocked that Vendeeni battleship out of the sky? Why are the Vendeeni so relentless in going after you and everyone else related to the Leingods? Everyone who was there knows the answers to these questions... Everyone but you, that is."_

_"Well..."_

_"I know you don't want to admit it, but there's only one truth. I'm going to steal the Professor and everyone else back from the Vendeeni and ask him why he did what he did. But to do this, I need your help, Fayt. I can't do it alone... I wouldn't expect you to object to saving your father and Sophia... I know how important they are to you."_

_"Of course I want to rescue them. They mean everything to me... All right. I'll help you."_

_"All right, now that we're decided..."_

Nel exhaled, finally letting her attention wander from the conversation inside. She didn't even pretend to understand half of the conversation, but it obvious that these outsiders were involved in a great deal of political intrigue.

Fayt particularly... somehow it was easy to imagine his bizarre display of power stemming from some highly classified weaponry. Not unlike the Thunder Arrow, except on a far more advanced level. So advanced that it had actually been prohibited in the first place. And the boy's father was apparently the one responsible for bringing such a development about in the first place...

And perhaps unsurprisingly, there were numerous _other_ parties who wished to get their hands on such power. Not unlike Airyglyph and her own country upon Fayt and Cliff's initial arrival...

Unfortunately, despite her most recent learnings, Nel was forced to admit that the list of 'Things that made no sense' had actually managed to get longer, rather than shorter.

It was starting to get frustrating.

* * *

end 


	4. Chapter 4

Valley of the Wind Productions presents   
Points of View   
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic   
by Intrasonic

* * *

**Setting:** Entering the Shrine of Kaddan

* * *

"Lady Nel... Forgive me... I couldn't stop them from entering the shrine..." 

"It would appear so." Nel knelt near the head of the mortally wounded soldier. As much as she would have liked to believe otherwise, she was far too qualified to judge when a wound was fatal. In times like this... all one could do was to assure the fallen that they hadn't died in vain... "But don't fear. We'll protect the Sacred Orb, no matter what." 

The man smiled weakly, his expression only betraying a hint of the pain he was obviously in at the moment. "Thank...the...gods..." Giving one last, strangled breath, the man's body finally went limp, his eyelids closing gently. 

Nel grimaced, eyeing the gaping wound in his side, bleeding far less than it should have, given the severe cauterization that had been inflicted on it at the same time. The same fate that had befallen many soldiers on the battlefield only a short time ago. Whatever else could be said about these 'Vendeeni', they clearly didn't believe in a clean kill. And now they were running rampant through the Shrine of Kaddan, trying to lay their murderous hands on the Sacred Orb... 

"They'll pay for this," she muttered under her breath. 

Steeling her expression, she gave the other with her a warning glance. "You'd better brace yourselves. Only members of the royal family or messengers of the gods have been allowed in here until now. I've also heard that countless traps have been set to prevent looting." 

"It'd sure make things easier if those traps would take care of them for us." 

Cliff was, all things considered, reassuring to have beside her in the upcoming fight. As was Fayt, less-experienced though he might be. Mirage was remaining back at the Castle, serving as an 'emergency communication relay' between them and their 'ship', although Nel privately had no idea what _that_ was supposed to mean. 

"Don't get your hopes up. They'll most likely be carrying power scanners." 

It was their 'boss', Maria, that was warranting the most concern. It wasn't that Maria didn't come across as an efficient, dedicated, and intelligent leader. It was that Maria _also_ came across as the kind of leader who was prone to overcompensating in an effort to insure that she stayed that way. 

For several obvious reasons, Nel carried no prejudice against a female in command, but she _did_ like knowing a commander's credentials beforehand. Thus far, all she knew about the young lady was that she was in possession of an unknown power, and both Cliff and Mirage followed her command. While she was reasonably certain that both Klausians were possessed of good judgement in their own fashion, that alone wasn't enough to make a believer of Nel. 

"Cliff?" Maria indicated the body, clearly inviting an opinion. 

Cliff shook his head slowly. "Well, if this guy's any indication, the Vendeeni are packing disruptor rifles. No problem for _me_ one-on-one, but..." 

Maria nodded slowly, apparently well-versed in Cliff's combat abilities. "And your... friend?" 

"Nel's one the kingdom's best," Cliff vouched. 

"I see." Maria frowned. "The Vendeeni haven't met with any significant resistance yet, but once we engage them, they'll be warned. We need to hit them hard and fast enough that they can't get a distress signal out. Or alert their ship to my or Fayt's whereabouts." 

"Sounds like a plan to me." 

"You're more familiar with this territory, your recommended approach?" 

Cliff looked thoughtful. "You and Fayt stay back, boss." 

"And me?" Nel inquired. 

Cliff grinned. "You may not be a Klausian, but you're pretty damn fast all the same. You can take point with me." 

While his confidence was reassuring, Nel had questions. "These Vendeeni? They use runology?" 

"Runology?" 

"That's what they call symbology on this planet," Fayt supplied. 

Her glance towards the badly burned dead body must have been self-explanatory. Maria shook her head in response. "No, their weapons are called disruptor rifles. Do your people use any form of projectile weapons?" 

"Their runological weapons are similar," Cliff pointed out. "Disruptor rifles are the same idea, except that they just use energy, and they're handheld. And any dumbass can use one." 

"Well," Maria observed, a smirk on her face, "it's nice to know that I'm held in such high esteem by my friends." 

"Darn!" Cliff slapped his forehead theatrically. "And Mirage and I had managed to keep it a secret for so long! But you know what I mean, right?" 

"Absolutely. And the next off-site mission we're on, guess who's getting latrine duty?" 

"Ah, dammit." 

Her scepticism, Nel felt, was entirely justified after the earlier statement. "A handheld runological weapon that requires no training? Yet still powerful enough to do _that_?" 

For an answer, Maria took hold of the contraption attached to her belt and lifted it easily in one hand. Stretching out her arm, she faced a wall away from the others. 

"Observe." A twitch of one finger, and a blast of energy erupted from the end, blowing several sizable chunks of stone loose from the wall. 

"The Vendeeni have weapons just like that, except more powerful," Cliff elaborated. 

Nel nodded slowly, feeling her scepticism rapidly drain away. These days, it just seemed to be one thing after another... the speed of the energy blast, the power behind it... "And the most effective way to deal with these weapons?" 

"You ever rushed someone with a bow and arrow?" 

"Numerous times," she affirmed. 

"Same idea here," he assured her. "You know that that once that arrow's fired, it's going to keep going in the same direction. And you know that the direction it's going to go is the direction it's pointing. So you just move as fast as you can, and try to keep them from getting a clear shot on you. And if they do get a shot off, make sure that you're already out of the way. Sound familiar?" 

"Quite," she agreed. "And once you close the distance, the weapon becomes a liability?" 

"Right. They'll probably be in groups of two, so you work from the left side, and I'll work from the right side. If there's more than two, you aim for the centre, boss." 

"What about me?" Fayt wanted to know. 

Maria gave him a reassuring smile. "The Vendeeni will want the two of us - especially you - alive. Your job is to make sure any capture attempts fail." 

"There may be more than just the Vendeeni down here," Nel added. "Similar to the monsters we've dealt with this far. Or possibly worse - this place has been sealed for quite a long time." 

"Good," Cliff approved. "Nothing like a little variety to keep things interesting, I say."

* * *

end 


	5. Chapter 5

Valley of the Wind Productions presents   
Points of View   
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic   
by Intrasonic

* * *

**Setting:** Leaving the Shrine of Kaddan

* * *

It was with some sense of relief that the decor and daylight of the Aquaria Chapel finally came into view at the end of the tunnel. The threat was over, but that didn't serve to the make the gloomy tunnels and corridors any more cheerful. 

While Nel was perhaps the only person in the group unaffected by the atmosphere, this was mostly due her being too distracted to bother noticing it. Were she confronted on the issue, she would have felt herself quite justified in her present state of mind. 

Somehow, the flying ship and the subsequent massacre of both her and Airyglyph's soldiers was actually being regulated to a background issue. As was the spectacular duel between the giant ships, coupled with Maria appearing out of thin air... 

There were other worlds. 

Other worlds. Not just other continents or countries, but _other worlds_. There were other worlds that weren't _here_. And if they weren't _here_, they had to be _out there._

It was a bizarre thought, one that Nel couldn't even have begun to flesh out the details of, particularly where 'Out There' was. Common sense dictated that everything was from Here, 'Here' being the world. It was a big 'Here', but it was still 'Here'. Nevertheless, there was too much evidence that dictated otherwise. 

The outsiders weren't from 'Here'. Fayt wasn't, Cliff wasn't, Mirage wasn't, Maria wasn't, and the Vendeeni weren't. They were from somewhere else. Somewhere else where giant ships with (previously) unheard of destructive potential flew around and fought on a regular basis. Somewhere else where people could be made to appear out of thin air at will. Somewhere else where swords and arrows were long obsolete, in favour of self-contained, energy-firing, weaponry that (with all due respect to Maria) even a child could manage to operate. 

Nel wasn't sure where 'Out There' was. Contrary to ancient beliefs and casual intuition, the world was presently known, beyond a doubt, to be spherical. Thus, no matter how far away you travelled, you would eventually wind up back where you started. Heading downwards also produced a similar result, with various theories about what the scenery was like in-between. Therefore... it stood to reason that wherever the outsiders were from, it must be from somewhere _above_. Hence, the giant flying objects that had recently graced their kingdom. But above, there was nothing but sky, right? How you could have another world up in the sky? 

Clearly, despite all logic, it _was_ possible. In fact, when Nel began to _really_ think about the various conversations that she'd had recently, it was extremely possible. In fact, it seemed that there were so many other worlds 'Out There' that there were laws specifically dedicated to dealing with other worlds. Furthermore, there were different organizations among these worlds, and they didn't always agree with each other. 

When you looked at it that way, Nel admitted, it seemed a great deal like her own world, except on a larger scale. A _much_ larger scale. And that in turn, was leading to another conclusion. 

Clearly, as much as it galled her to realize it, the events of the last few weeks had been nothing but a roll of some supernatural dice. Fayt, Cliff, and Mirage had arrived here by nothing more than an accident, pursued by the Vendeeni. And it had been nothing more than fluke that the Vendeeni had been able to detect (another fascinating ability these outsiders seemed to possess) the Sacred Orb (which, in the greater scheme of things, was simply an object falling into a category called "OPA's"). And people being people, regardless of what they looked like, they had immediately decided to possess the powerful object. 

It was, Nel admitted, rather humbling to learn that your entire world had been turned on end simply because of a little bad luck.

* * *

end 


	6. Chapter 6

Valley of the Wind Productions presents   
Points of View   
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic   
by Intrasonic

* * *

Setting: The Traum Mountain Range

* * *

"We'll take a breather here." 

"That works for me." 

Nel wore a slightly vexed expression. "Are you going to try and claim you're not the least bit tired so far?" 

Cliff shrugged, but was displaying nothing more than a slightly increased breathing rate. "Well, yeah, I'm a little tired. But I'm a Klausian - I could do this all day." 

Apparently that was supposed to explain everything, Nel reflected. It didn't, not by a long shot. 

In this case, it wasn't so much a matter of being surprised over Cliff's strength and endurance; it was simply his casual acceptance of the fact. Apparently, to judge by his reply, simply being a member of his race automatically meant being a physical superhuman. He didn't even seem to be trying to hide anything from her - he just took it for granted. 

Just like so many other surprises recently, she supposed wearily. 

When the need had arisen for someone to go talk with King Airyglyph over the procurement of some air dragons to bear the Thunder Arrow against the Vendeeni ship, Nel had immediately volunteered herself as a logical choice. Not only was she ranked high enough to serve as the Queen's intermediary, the wartime had given her opportunity to learn some very direct, fast, and effective routes that didn't involve towns or villages. 

Granted, the routes involved treacherous mountains and near-suicidal passes, but Nel was sufficiently skilled that they involved little risk. And considering that this mission was being executed in the interest of getting rid of the Vendeeni ship, the extra risk was more than justified. 

Cliff's reasoning - that Airyglyph would be more receptive to an outsider than an enemy - was absolutely correct, and as a bonus, Nel had been confident that he wouldn't slow her down during the journey. In fact, if anything, the opposite was rapidly proving true. 

"You're sure you know where we're going?" Cliff inquired, looking around with the expression of a person admiring the view and trying not to admit that they're completely lost. 

"Trust me," Nel assured him, "I've lost a considerable number of Airyglyph pursuits in this area over the last few years." 

Cliff glanced down a different face of the ridge they were on. It wasn't quite a perfect 1000 foot drop, but only by a few degrees. "Huh. And I'll bet a few of them never even made it back home again afterwards. We're not going to look like spies if we show in Airyglyph by this route, will we?" 

Nel shook her head, grudgingly giving him some credit where it was due. For a 'field grunt', Cliff seemed to be quite capable of considering matters beyond the ends of his fists, when he bothered to bother. "We'll cut south a short distance before coming into the castle's view. At that point, both of us will probably be recognized, especially you." 

"That works for me." 

Nel found a dry patch of stone and took the opportunity to rest her legs, noticing Cliff opting to lean against a nearby wall, but remain standing. Every so often, his eyes would quietly sweep the area, indicating that he wasn't entirely willing to lower his guard. 

"Aren't you cold?" Nel inquired. 

He raised an eyebrow. "Nah. Klausians can take a lot of cold before we really start to feel it. We're not so good in the heat, though. What about you? That uniform doesn't exactly look designed for winter." 

"It's not, but in the last few years, I've spent more time in Airyglyph then in Aquarias, so I've become conditioned to the cold. It's when I get home that I become uncomfortable." 

"Yeah, I guess that's to be expected. If I'm away from home too long, it can take me a day or two to get used to it again." 

"Is it that bad?" 

"Not in a weather sense, but it's the main reason Klausians are the way they are." 

"Your home is the reason? How is that possible?" 

Cliff shrugged. "I don't quite know how to explain it to you, but... the world's mostly responsible for it. Do... you know what gravity is?" 

"It's what makes things fall," Nel informed him, trying to not feel irritated over the fact that he hadn't automatically assumed she knew such a fundamental thing. 

"Right, it's a downwards force. Imagine if you lived in a world where the gravity was more than twice as strong." 

Nel raised an eyebrow. Somehow, as ludicrous as it sounded, Cliff's question obviously wasn't theoretical. "Your world... Klaus, is like that?" 

"It's over twice what it is here," Cliff confirmed. "Maybe three times. That makes a huge difference, really. For starters, you weigh twice as much. So every step or jump takes twice the effort and everything is twice as hard to lift. Not only that, but your skeleton and muscles have to support twice as much weight and strain, which makes them a lot denser and stronger. And of course, all that takes twice as much energy, so your body gets used to burning a lot of energy all the time. And to top it off, the air's not very good on Klaus, which means your lungs have to be more efficient at taking in air." 

Nel frowned. "So it's an... environmental factor, then? Which accounts for your strength and endurance?" 

"To begin with, yeah. Even a normal, inactive Klausian would probably leave someone like Fayt in the dust, and that kid's no slouch. _Me_, I've been training hard in martial arts for a long time now, under those same conditions. So you're probably getting the picture, right?" 

She was, Nel had to admit. It was a strange picture, but once you accepted the premise, a powerhouse like Cliff suddenly made more sense. "So... in effect, you're only moving a fraction of your body weight right now?" 

"Right. That make more sense?" 

"I think so... It does seem rather bizarre, though. And your world, Klaus, is just another world like ours?" 

"Aside from the differences I mentioned, pretty much. Not much in the way of mountains, though." 

"And there are many other worlds as well?" 

"You better believe it. New ones are getting discovered every day, really." 

Nel sighed, shaking her head wearily. "You make it sound so normal." 

"It _is_ normal. When you really look at it, nothing's any different. Things are a lot bigger, but the people are still the same. Heck, that's why I work for my organization in the first place." 

"Oh?" 

"Yeah. There's a lot of big organizations out there that would rather just plow over the smaller, independent worlds than give them a fair deal. The organization I belong to helps to level the playing field. Whether it's advice, representation, a third-party witness... we help out where we can." 

"Your organization is... diplomatic?" Not to put too fine a point on the matter, but on a list of potential diplomats, Cliff might have ranked _slightly_ higher than Adray Lasbard. And that was mostly on account of wearing a shirt in public. 

"Mostly, yeah. Of course, sometimes the big guys take our interference a little personally, and try to shut us up through other means. Of course, if they're willing to do that, it just makes our job that much more important." 

"Ah, I see." Nel's lips pursed, as though something had finally just registered to her. "You've been training for quite some time?" 

"Almost eleven years now. I got off to a bit of a late start." 

"How old _are_ you, anyway?" It wasn't exactly the most tactful way to pose the question, but Nel had to admit to being a little curious. Cliff was obviously a few years older than she was, but the combination of his attitude (immature and annoying) and his aptitudes (admittedly impressive) made it hard to guess. 

Cliff raised an eyebrow. "I'm 37." 

"_37!_" 

"Ah, don't worry, it's an easy mistake to make. After all, I _am_ one heck of a stud, so-" A well-aimed snowball silenced him. "_Peh!_ What was _that_ for!" 

"Being yourself," she replied dryly. "I suppose you'd account _that_ to being Klausian as well?" 

"Yeah, probably. From a physical point of view, we're pretty much top notch, after all - we even age pretty well. On the other hand, my amazing intelligence and intuition are all me." 

"Yes," Nel agreed dryly. "Somehow, I could tell from the beginning. What about... how old is Mirage?" 

Cliff grinned. "Yeah, I can see why you'd be curious. I mean, she almost _looks_ younger than you, doesn't she?" 

Somehow, the air suddenly seemed to grow even colder. "For someone surrounded by tall cliffs and no witnesses, you certainly have a big mouth." 

"Sca-ree."

* * *

end 


	7. Chapter 7

Valley of the Wind Productions presents   
Points of View   
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic   
by Intrasonic

* * *

Setting: Castle Aquaria, Nel's Quarters.

* * *

There was a polite knock at the door. 

Nel permitted her eyes to crack open, but remained slumped over at her desk. 

There was a second knock at the door, slightly loudly. 

The dust was getting rather thick, Nel noted in a detached manner. Who was it that thought it was a good idea to give a desk to the leader of the Secret Legion? And how long had it been since she'd actually sat down at it? 

The third time, the knock was a little more forceful, as though the person was starting to put their shoulder into the effort. 

"Come in," Nel invited, yielding to the inevitable. The only people who would be bold enough to be so insistent were probably more important than she was. And as a result, they were probably well aware that she was here. 

The door swung open quietly, then shut again. 

"Are you feeling alright, Nel?" Claire. 

Nel shrugged, but didn't bother turning around. "I'm fine." 

"And that's why you've spent the last half day shut up in your quarters?" 

"There's nothing for me to do. And they sent your father away on another mission, so I can't ever get some good practicing in. So I'm waiting here until I'm needed." 

"I see. You're sulking." 

A pause. "I am _not_ sulking." 

There was a longer period of silence. 

"I am not sulking," Nel insisted. 

Wordlessly, Claire positioned herself behind Nel's chair and began to massage her shoulders. 

"I'm not." crick 

"Of course not. So, exactly what manner of non-sulking activity are you engaged in?" 

"I prefer my tea-" crick "-without sarcasm-" tik "-thank you very much." 

"Your shoulders have more knots than the furniture. You need to take better care of yourself." 

Nel sagged slightly under her friend's ministrations, once again reminded why she put up with so much of Claire's mothering. "I've been-" crick "-busy lately." Dammit, did that ever feel _good_. 

"And now you're not busy," Claire agreed, not missing a beat. "I know you miss them, but I'm sure you'll meet again." 

Nel had her doubts, but kept them to herself. From what she could tell, the group was already in a heap of trouble for showing up the first time. Thus, despite the definite camaraderie that had developed in a short time, they would certainly know better than to let it happen a second time. 

"It's not that," she muttered. 

"You're bored," Claire affirmed. "You're just like my father is - always looking for adventure, even when there isn't any to be found. Maybe we should start sending you out with him?" 

"They do that to _get rid_ of him, Claire. And I've caught you helping." 

"My father is a fighter, Nel, and he needs a challenge to focus on. The difference between you two is that _you_ don't keep trying to find a husband for me when you're home." 

Nel couldn't quite keep from smiling. "If I start, does that mean you'll start finding things for me to do too?" 

"If you do, I'll return the favour. And there's a young man I saw recently who would be perfect. He has ample intelligence, excellent fighting skills, proven leadership ability, outstanding discipline, is halfway handsome, and possesses not a spark of male chauvinism." 

"Is that so?" 

"Absolutely. Of course, he sometimes goes by the name of 'Albel the Wicked', but that's just a minor little detail, right? I'm sure both Her Majesty and King Airyglyph would give their full support." 

Nel couldn't keep from laughing a little. "That's not fair. You fight dirty." 

"Well, I had to threaten to match my father up with Lady Elena the last time he tried, so it's an area I have some practice in." 

"Hah, I suppose so. Well, don't worry, I'm not _that_ bored." 

Claire sighed in admonishment. "Don't look at it as being bored, Nel. Look at it as a chance to rest and get some perspective." 

"Claire, I just finished operating the Thunder Arrow, strapped to the back of the Marquis himself, in combat against giant flying ships from another world. I have enough 'perspective' to last a lifetime. Even your father is going to be hard pressed to match _this_ story." 

"You have a point, I suppose. Maybe our boring little country isn't enough for you anymore?" 

Nel finally turned her head, giving her friend a suspicious look. "That's a nasty way of putting it. You make it sound like I should have left with Fayt and the others earlier." 

"Who's to say that you can't do that next time they arrive? My father would probably scold you for not taking advantage of the opportunity the first time. Perhaps you can go on a vacation to where they're from?" 

Nel briefly considered trying to explain the complexities behind what Claire was suggesting, but decided that it would take too long. Besides, despite Cliff's attempt at an explanation, she had a hunch that _she_ still didn't understand everything herself. 

So she settled for a teasing, "I see. So you _are_ trying to get rid of me..." 

"Oh, don't be like that. All I'm saying that another opportunity will come along before long, and you need to be ready to pursue it when it happens, right? You can't do that if you're sitting around sulking-I mean, resting in your room like this." 

"Easy for _you_ to say," Nel replied, choosing to ignore the obviously deliberate slip of Claire's tongue. "Our country still needs an army commander, it _doesn't_ need a Secret Legion commander." 

"Then maybe you need to expand your focus a little? Keep an open eye and mind for when an opportunity presents itself, and be willing to try something a little different. You know Her Majesty tries to make you relax, so she surely wouldn't object to you indulging yourself a little." 

"I'm sure that _she_ wouldn't." 

Claire sighed, but she had a smile on her face. "Look, Nel, why don't you come with me? I'm heading over to Kirlsa to discuss some matters with Lord Woltar. You can keep me company for the trip there. And while I'm engaged in discussions, perhaps you can do an inspection of the Black Brigade's training facility?" 

"There? Why?" 

"The King is looking into refurbishing it, and has been expressing interest in hiring some Aquarian workers. You're familiar with the facility, so there's no reason that you couldn't scout around by yourself and ensure that the facility is safe for our unarmed civilians?" 

It didn't promise much excitement, but it _would_ get her out of the castle, Nel admitted. And from personal experience, she could attest that the state of the Kirlsa Training facility was questionable at best, and thoroughly unfit for habitation at worst. 

Besides, it would be a shame to waste a chance for a peacetime trip with her best friend. 

"Fine, I'll come with you."

* * *

end 


	8. Chapter 8

Valley of the Wind Productions presents   
Points of View   
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic   
by Intrasonic

* * *

Setting?

* * *

Some people say that you learn something new every day. 

Some people actually do. 

And if she didn't _stop_ learning things, Nel thought murkily, she wasn't going to live to see her next birthday. Or even next week. 

"Ah, I see that you're waking up." 

_Waking up?_ Nel groaned as a slew of recent memories were brought to her attention. 

Scouting out the Kirlsa Training facility. Seeing her friends appear. Seeing the Vendeeni appear. Seeing them fight. Seeing her friends make a strategic retreat. Seeing them mount a counter-attack. Destroying the strange device that was apparently responsible for the tactical imbalance. Dodging the hail of counter attacks from the angry Vendeeni. A blinding pain in her shoulder, coupled with a sudden lack of responsiveness from the limb. Finally passing out from the pain... 

"Take it easy," the voice instructed, feminine but unfamiliar. "You're still weak." 

"W-where..." Nel swallowed, almost painfully. She would have at least maimed for a glass of water at the moment. And her left shoulder still throbbed in a way that shouldn't be physically possible, as though it had been dipped in acid. "...am I?" 

There was period of hesitation after the question. "You're... with friends. Just rest." 

Nel's mind insisted otherwise, but her body had other ideas. So she rested.

* * *

When Nel woke up next, her body seemed more willing to respond to her commands. To be certain, it provided a abundance of pain to go with the obedience, but that was something she could deal with. A soldier like her knew full well that pain was a minor problem compared to what _could_ happen. An aching limb was far better than having no limb at all. 

Her eyes seemed to be doing their job as well, giving Nel a slightly better picture than the glaring white haze from before. Now, they were giving her a more detailed picture. She was on her back, obviously enough, looking up at a rather plain ceiling. Several orbs of light were suspended downwards, looking much like magical orbs, but without any pulsing or flickering in their output. 

The air had a rather... strange smell to it, as well. As though it was devoid of the usual traces of civilization. No food, no animals, no plants... merely a hint of something vaguely... sterile. 

"Feeling any better?" 

It was the same female voice that she had heard earlier, Nel was certain. It seemed fairly pleasant, if unknown, which was a comforting thought. "Where... am I?" she managed. 

"_That_ is a tougher question than you might think, I'm afraid." 

Gritting her teeth, Nel forced her arms to lift her body up, only to be rewarded by a spasm of pain from her left shoulder, severe enough make stars appears in her vision. Hissing a few colourful phrases (definitely not approved by the Church of Apris), she collapsed again, but felt a pair of hands carefully catch her, one placed at the small of her back, the other at the base of her neck, both mercifully sparing her shoulder. 

Gingerly turning her head, she finally had a chance to look at her (seeming) benefactor. If nothing else, Nel had quite recently expected to be dead, or at least have a giant hole in her shoulder. Clearly, she had either imagined the whole thing, or some drastic intervention had occurred while she was unconscious. 

"You soldier types are all alike," the woman observed, with a trace of amusement on her face. "You don't know when to stay down and rest." 

Definitely a healer, Nel decided, having endured the mothering, teasing, chiding tone of voice more times than she cared to remember. At least this healer was helping her to sit up, instead of pushing her back down and trying to force her to drink something alcoholic to dull her wits. 

"We had to do extensive tissue and bone reconstruction on your left shoulder, but you should make a full recovery." Something in the woman's voice suggested that she was a little surprised herself. "You're the first race I've seen that has been able to compete with Klausians in the recovery department. Quite fascinating, really, even considering that your physical conditioning practically over-qualifies you for the 99th percentile. I wonder if your extensive personal use of symbology on your body is what makes the difference? The field of symbological medicine is quite under-researched unfortunately..." 

There were several moments of silence on Nel's part. 

"Did you want to try and sit up?" the woman tried. 

Nel was staring. At _everything_. 

"This is probably going to come as a bit of a shock to you," the woman granted. 

The entire room was... different. Nel would have never considered herself illiterate, but she knew of no word that could possibly convey the sheer _uniqueness_ of the room she was in. She had traveled the far reaches of her continent, through the highest levels of royalty to the lowest and meanest of dungeons, and had never seen a décor to match what she was seeing now. It was simply... _different_. 

The walls were a glossy, smooth white, that didn't appear to be made of any material she'd ever seen before. There were platforms built into the wall, similarly smooth, except shaded gray. The large platform she was presently sitting on had a 'bed' suggestion to it, save for the strange fabric that the sheets seemed made of, and the odd fixtures that jutted out from either side of it. Several orange sections of the walls had the suggestion of doorways, except they lacked any sign of hinges, keyholes or handles. 

And then there were The Lights. 

They were everywhere. In the walls, in the ceilings, in her bed, _everywhere_. Not glaringly bright, once her eyes had adjusted, but the combination was enough to make for a general absence of shadows, even in the corners. 

Then there were further sections of the wall, coupled with unassuming objects scattered throughout the room that sported _moving_ lights, rapidly displaying glowing words and symbols, which she might have guessed to be meaningful somehow. One thing was certain, they didn't look like any runological patterns _she'd_ ever seen. 

For a brief moment, Nel actually considered the possibility that an elaborate hoax was in progress, to make her think she was somewhere else... except that the sheer alien-ness of the room seemed beyond anything that could be invented for a mere hoax. 

Finally tearing her eyes from the scene, Nel refocused on the woman still supporting her. "Where is this place?" 

The woman smiled. "Welcome aboard the Diplo."

* * *

Nel groaned as she regained consciousness. Somehow, her shoulder had gone rather numb since she last passed out. She wasn't complaining. 

She had passed out _again_, she realized, after the woman had touched something on the side of her bed. The bed had immediately begun to vibrate and shift, which had brought Nel's catlike reflexes into play, prompting her to immediately abandon her bed before it collapsed under her. She had hit her thigh against one of the blocky obstructions in the process, then been betrayed by a pair of suddenly-limp legs, and landed on the ground _on_ her injured shoulder, and had mercifully blacked out shortly after. 

And now, she realized, she was back on the same bed, which looked remarkably un-collapsed. If someone was trying to mess with her head, they were doing remarkably good job of it. 

"Ah, you're awake again," the woman remarked, sounding just a little amused. "Sorry about that before. I'll warn you next time I adjust your bed." 

"Adjust my bed?" 

The woman nodded, reaching down in the same location as before. "Don't worry." 

The vibration was the same as before, but Nel felt the top section of her bed smoothly lift up, turning the bed into a recliner of sorts. 

"There you go. I thought you might like to sit up. You don't strike me as the kind of person who enjoys lying down any more than necessary." 

" Quite true," Nel admitted. She tried to piece her thoughts together in a constructive fashion. "My shoulder feels rather... numb." 

"I injected a dose of painkillers into your shoulder after your last spill, along with some anti-inflammatory drugs. Your shoulder's numbness will be gone in several hours, by which time your shoulder muscles should be less troublesome. I didn't _quite_ understand the phrases you were using, but I have a feeling they probably shouldn't be taught to any children." 

Nel flushed, despite herself. "Thank-you. So... I'm inside that... ship? The Diplo?" 

"That's right, you're in the medical bay, to be exact. I'm the doctor." 

As though merely seeing the giant flying ships wasn't enough, now she was actually _onboard_ one of them. "We're... flying?" 

The doctor pursed her lips, as though considering, but finally nodded. "I suppose you could call it that, yes." 

Somehow, it felt... dull, aside from the obvious visual differences, of course. There was no rush of wind, no weightless feeling, no sensation of leaving the ground behind... a little disappointing, even. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but aside from the strange décor, the general sense of calm and peace in the room was something of a let-down. "I see." 

The woman's earlier statement finally registered. "I'm sorry, you're the doctor? You have my thanks for healing me. I... didn't quite see the damage, but I'm sure it was rather... serious." 

The doctor chuckled. "That's an understatement if I ever heard one. You had a hole burned clean through your shoulder, muscle, bone and all. You're quite lucky, in fact. Had you been wearing stronger armour, the force would have been dispersed over a larger area and probably simply vaporized your entire body. As it was, I had to regrow a considerable portion of your shoulder joint and muscle tissue." 

Nel's eyes grew wide, darting sideways to look at her shoulder. Now that she was looking closer, the skin on her shoulder looked... paler than the rest. And it felt strangely tender when she gingerly prodded it, as though it hadn't experienced the same weathering and toughening that the nearby skin had... "You mean... you _grew_... h-how?" 

The doctor nodded. "Tissue regeneration. I suspect that your world doesn't have such capabilities, but it's within our abilities in some cases, such as yours. And as I understand recent events, it was the least we could do after your timely assistance." 

_That_ statement was enough to jolt Nel's memory, particularly regarding _why_ she had been injured in the first place. "The others? How are-" 

An interruption occurred, in the form of a chirping noise from a flat panel in the wall, which looked to be perforated with tiny holes. Aside from that, nothing further happened. 

"Come in," the doctor invited, sounding quite unsurprised by the noise. 

The orange section of the wall next to the noise-making panel immediately separated, sliding apart smoothly and quietly, to reveal what lay beyond them. 

"You're awake now, I see." 

Nel managed a smile in response. "Maria. Cliff." 

The two individuals entered the room, taking up placement on either side of the bed. 

"How're you feeling?" Cliff inquired. 

"I've been better," Nel admitted. "But I'm feeling much better than I was a short time ago. Your... medicine is quite incredible, I must admit." 

"It was the least we could do," Maria assured her. "Without your intervention, I suspect there might have been far more casualties than there were." 

"Casualties?" Nel inquired worriedly. "Who-" 

Maria grimaced, briefly looking angry. 

"Just one," Cliff supplied quietly. "But it was Fayt's old man." 

Who they had been specifically trying to rescue, Nel recalled. "How is Fayt?" 

"He's a little overwhelmed right now. I think he'll come around soon, but..." 

Nel bowed her head. "I'm sorry to hear that." 

"We're moving forwards," Maria replied, sounding just a little like she was convincing herself as much as anyone else. "Fayt's father gave us a lead, although it remains to be seen where it will take us." 

"That's... good, I suppose." 

"Under the circumstances, it's the best we could have hoped for," Maria admitted. Looking over at the doctor, "What's your prognosis?" 

The doctor shrugged. "To be quite honest, I've done everything I can. As near as I can see, she's made a full recovery and is fit to leave the medical bay at any time. All she really needs is a day or two with minimal activity for the tissue inflammation to go down, and for her body to replace the blood it lost. And plenty of food, of course." 

"Excellent," Maria approved, starting towards the doorway. "Can I ask you to see to providing some food for her? Things are just a little busy at the moment." 

"Of course." 

"Thanks. Cliff or myself will check up on her later." 

Cliff gave Nel a grin as he followed Maria out of the room. "Buck up, soldier. You'll be kicking ass again in no time." 

"I certainly intend to," Nel agreed, returning the smile. 

"Now then," the doctor announced, standing up. "why don't we see to getting some nourishment inside you?" 

Nel could feel her stomach agreeing with the sentiments. "That would be appreciated. Do you handle cooking duties on this ship as well?" 

"Not exactly." Crossing the room to a hollowed-out section of the wall, the doctor tapped several coloured patches with numbers written on them. In response, the hollowed-out section began to glow. "We have a little device called a 'food synthesizer' that handles _that_ chore." 

Nel watched, forcing herself to keep quiet, rather then ask the obvious question. 

"So," the doctor inquired with a smile, "how does filet mignon sound to you?"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Nel had come to another conclusion. For all the energy weapons, bizarre flying ships, mass destruction, and general confusion surrounding these 'other worlds', being able to create fully-cooked, prime-grade cuts of beef and fresh vegetables appear from a hole in the wall was helping to make up for some of it. Not to mention the fact that it could apparently make the dirty dishes _disappear_ afterwards. 

"And this... 'food synthesizer' can prepare any food?" 

The doctor looked thoughtful as she daintily sipped at a cup of tea. "Well, it has its limits, but its menu is fairly diverse. In a lot of cases, I find it lacks a homemade touch to what it makes. Nutritionally, it's quite fine, but it's not quite fit for a really upscale restaurant." 

Considering that some of the food she'd been forced to subsist on during the wartime probably hadn't been fit for _cattle_, Nel didn't see any cause to complain. "I see." 

"Did you want something else to eat?" 

"No, I'm quite fine now, thanks." 

"Suit yourself. But your body is still recovering, so make sure you eat regularly. And drink lots of fluids as well, understand?" 

"Understood," Nel assured her, glad to know that some medicine never went obsolete. "I will be sure to do so." 

"Good. That said, if you'd like, you can go see your friends. There really isn't any reason to keep you shut up in here any longer, and I'm sure a little walking would do you some good after being bedridden." 

"I could use a stretch," Nel admitted, easing herself off the bed. It was with some relief that her legs, while still weak, no longer threatened to collapse underneath her. "Are they close by?" 

The doctor nodded, pointing towards one of the doorways. "The computer says that they're all in Fayt's quarters. Just head out through that doorway, turn left, and it's the third doorway on your right. Just make sure you take it easy for the next day or two." 

Nel nodded slowly, memorizing the directions. She wasn't sure how to interpret the lack of escort, but assumed that it was simply an indication of the fact that she was considered a friend. And if she was truly on the 'ship' and it was flying, it wasn't as though she could wander very far off-course in the first place, right? 

"Thank-you." 

Conveniently, the doors slid apart and closed again afterwards for her, just as she'd seen them do for Cliff and Maria earlier. As disconcerting as it was to have something happen without being bidden, Nel idly wondered if something like that could be arranged back home... some sort of runic detection spell, perhaps... 

The ship felt different now too, now that she had stepped out into what appeared to be a hallway. In fact, it had been noticeable the minute she'd left the medical bay, the floor suddenly pulsing with a faint, but alien energy. Her hearing could pick up noise now, sounding like nothing so much as a quiet, sustained, roaring noise. Like a roaring blacksmith's furnace, when the smith was furiously pumping the bellows. Perhaps the medical room had been intended to insulate against the true nature of the ship, but now that she had left it behind... 

It felt like power, Nel decided, with a capital 'P'. The kind of Power that allowed giant ships to effortlessly levitate in the air, safely protected against even super-weapons like the Thunder Arrow, all the while poised to rain down destruction on the ground below... 

Unbidden, an almost giddy smile crept to her face. _This_ was what flying in a Celestial Ship was _supposed_ to feel like! And what would the world look like from this high up? Would Castle Aquaria look like a child's toy? The Mosel Desert like a sandbox? The Traum Mountains like a pile of rocks? 

A window, then. Surely a ship would have windows somewhere, if only so that the captain could see where his ship was heading... 

It took only a cursory inspection of the corridor before her eyes spotted what she was looking for. A large, full-height window, almost as wide as the wall of her quarters back home. From her angle all she could see was blackness, but it would hardly surprise her to know that it was nighttime by now. Inconvenient, but surely she could still make out some details on the ground below... 

Nel walked up to the window and peered out eagerly... this time, despite her best efforts, she actually gaped openly. "By Apris..." 

Up, down, to her sides, everywhere, was a veritable sea of blackness. A sea of blackness filled with hundreds of points of light, looking like a bolder, far more intense version of a star-filled sky. Nel had looked up into many cloudless nights, quite able to appreciate the simple beauty of a star-filled sky (even if she lacked the inclination to wax romantic), but this outstripped _anything_ she had seen previous by a wide margin. 

But even more bizarre was the fact that she could see no ground below her. Even when she strained to see directly below the window, there was nothing but more stars to be seen. It was almost as though she was lying down and staring _up_ at the sky, except that she knew she was standing up and looking outwards. Right? 

Another window then, against a different wall. Further down the corridor, a suitable window presented itself, at a right angle to the one she was presently using. Even if this flying ship was somehow rotating her world by ninety degrees, it stood to reason that looking through another window would allow the ground to be seen. Although Nel couldn't help but wonder what direction she would have to look to see the ground... 

Defying all logic, there wasn't any ground to be seen in this window, either. What _was_ present occupied a great deal of the scene, and like everything else on this ship, was most definitely new to her. It seemed to float in the sky, super-imposed over the clusters of stars, and despite the lack of perspective, Nel couldn't help but get a sense of... size. Lots of it. 

It was spherical, that much was obvious, but Nel would have been hard-pressed to adequately describe it to another person. There was a great deal of blue and brown and green randomly splashed all over it's shape, but many areas appeared to be overlaid with a white-grey, transparent-looking colouring. And the very top and bottom of the sphere were almost completely white... It was strange, but at the same time, somehow very natural-looking. 

She was missing something, Nel was certain. A crucial puzzle piece, that would allow the final product to be identified. Something that would make this whole picture make sense... 

So distracted was she, that she didn't hear the passing footsteps until they were directly behind her. Turning quickly, she came face to face with a man she didn't recognize, but who's clothing suggested that he was probably a member of the ship's crew. 

Nel opened her mouth to ask a question, but the man didn't appear to be paying her much notice, giving the scene out the window an offhand glance. 

"Huh," he muttered, more to himself than anyone nearby, "I guess we're still in orbit around Elicoor II." 

Nel's jaw slammed shut again, even as her eyes widened, even as the man innocently strode off to parts unknown. In fact, she thought she could feel her entire body beginning to grow numb. 

Elicoor II? 

Slowly, with an interesting mix of horror and anticipation written on her face, she forced herself to look out the window again. 

The sphere was still there. With its rather strange, yet natural-looking colour scheme. 

Its earthy and sandy-looking browns... 

Its grassy and foresty-looking greens... 

Its watery-looking blues... 

Its icy-looking whites... 

Overlaid with its cloudy-looking transparencies... 

Elicoor II. The same name that Fayt and his friends had occasionally used to refer to the world they were visiting. 

"Apris..." Nel whispered again, feeling her knees beginning to weaken. 

It was her entire world, she realized, looking small enough to fit in her bedroom. Even now, her mind was beginning to draw correlations between the pictures she'd seen in maps and what she was seeing before her. The continents of Gaitt and Greeton. The Inland and Greater seas. The Northern and Southern icelands... 

She would, Nel knew, _never_ look at a globe in the same way again. She had earlier deduced that other worlds could be reached by flying high enough, but now understood the issue far better. You didn't travel _up_ to leave the world, you traveled _away_. And, as ludicrous as the idea would have sounded five minutes ago, eventually you moved so far away that the world was nothing more than a highly realistic globe to look at. 

The gleeful smile she had worn earlier was now resurfacing, despite her best efforts. She had actually left her world! Even riding the Marquis was child's play compared to _this_! And to tell this story to Claire and Adray upon returning again... 

...almost immediately, her smile began to dim, as did the adrenaline rush that had surfaced so quickly. She would, of course, be returning to her world. Now that her injury was healed, there was no reason to overstay her welcome, and they were probably bending rules just by letting her on board in the first place. 

Nel sighed regretfully. Just the same, to have been given just a glimpse... and be forced to leave it behind again? How many years would she spend, always wondering what else there might have been to see, if she'd just traveled a little further from her own world? Telling those around her about what she had seen, but being forced to admit that it had only been the tiniest glimpse?

* * *

The room with her friends in it was simple enough to locate, despite her brief detour. After all, you didn't infiltrate Airyglyph military installations unless you were _good_ with directions. Or, to be more accurate, you didn't make it back out again afterwards, unless you were good. 

Partially out of habit, and partially (though she would never admit it) out of nervousness, Nel allowed herself to lean against the wall next to the door. She could hear some familiar voices inside, most notable being Maria giving Fayt a verbal dressing-down regarding recent events. It appeared that the group was done with Elicoor II, but they were now heading towards another place called 'Moonbase'. 

The literal explanation for such a name was also a highly improbable one - almost as improbable as the existence of other worlds and giant flying ships that could travel between them. The logical premise was that, among many other things, people had figured out how to build bases on their moons. And they were planning to travel to one now... 

Claire's earlier words echoed in her mind, telling her to be on the lookout for new opportunities when they were presented. And as unlikely an opportunity as this was, Nel knew she'd regret it to her dying day if she didn't at least _try_... 

Steeling herself, Nel stepped in front of the doorway, allowing it to automatically slide open for her. Even as every face in the room immediately turned to face her, she willed any scraps of confidence to make themselves shown when it counted. All they could do was say no, she told herself. And they _might_ say yes... 

Casually leaning against the doorway, she gave them all a smile. "Moon... base? Sounds interesting."

* * *

end 


	9. Chapter 9

Valley of the Wind Productions presents   
Points of View   
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic   
by Intrasonic

* * *

Setting: Federation Battleship Aqualie, en route to Moonbase (day 1)

* * *

In some ways, Nel was deciding, some things _never_ changed. 

Point in case, on a giant military battleship with imaginable technology, you _still_ could never find a soldier when you wanted to find one. And Nel _wanted_ to find one, or failing that, anyone who could assist her with a matter of import. 

It hadn't been worth mentioning until recently, since she'd had other concerns (i.e. a recently healed hole through her shoulder, looking out a window and seeing her entire world reduced to the size of a globe, etc) to worry about. She'd intended to bring up the issue while on the Diplo, but she'd been distracted by the prospect of having her entire body _disintegrated_, then _reintegrated_ at a _different_ location (only twenty or thirty thousand kilometers away, she'd been "reassured"). Then, aboard the Diplo, she'd been further distracted by hearing about a "Creator" that apparently meant to destroy _everything_, and seemed to have the means to do so. 

But now that the excitement was beginning to wane, Nel's original problem had resurfaced with a vengeance and was rapidly approaching a critical point- 

A familiar blue-haired figure appeared before her. 

"Maria!" Nel called out. 

Maria turned to greet her, offering a questioning look. 

"I need your help!" 

"Well, if there's anything I can-" 

"-There is." 

"Oh?" 

"Er..." Nel smiled weakly. "Where do you-"

* * *

"And this is... common?" 

"Very much so." 

"Not just bestowed upon the elite military? Or perhaps experimental at this time?" 

"Not at all. The general concept... has been in place for centuries, actually." 

Logically, Nel knew that she had nothing to be ashamed of. After all, she had barely spent a day in this new environment, where practically _everything_ she was familiar with had been replaced by a vastly more sophisticated method or device. She could hardly be expected to instantly learn everything. In fact, Nel thought she was adapting admirably well, all things considered. 

That didn't keep her from being terribly embarrassed at the moment. And it didn't help that someone she knew (and accorded a certain degree of respect) was quite obviously trying _very_ hard not to laugh in her face. 

"It's not funny," Nel muttered. 

Maria, seated at the table across from her, was presently resting her face in her hands. Except that her fingers were discreetly clapped over her mouth, and her eyes were twinkling with a brilliance that indicated that an explosive bout of laughter was barely being contained at the moment. 

"It's _not_." 

Maria nodded, but obviously thought otherwise. 

"How was I supposed to know that you didn't use..." Nel reddened further, "...chamber pots anymore?" 

Shrug. More restrained laughter. 

Nel scowled, irritation managing to overcome some of her embarrassment, or more likely, adding to it. As though learning everything wasn't hard enough, now she was being laughed at by a woman who had to be three or four years her junior. "This is-" 

"What's up, ladies?" a voice inquired. 

Both women turned to see Cliff approaching the table, his usual swagger in full force, but coupled with a look of curiosity. 

Nel groaned inwardly. If there was anything worse than being laughed at by Maria, it had _definitely_ arrived at the table right now. She was _never_ going to hear the end of this... 

"Nel..." Maria paused briefly to fight back a laugh, "was telling me a few stories about when you and her were traveling together on Elicoor II." 

Right there, Nel forgave Maria for everything. 

Cliff's eyes widened briefly, a hint of panic evident. "Eh... really? Ah, what stories? Not that there _are_ any stories, I mean-" 

Following Maria's cue, Nel deepened her voice. "'So what I'm saying is, if we're gonna cooperate with someone, it might as well be that hot chick over there, know what I mean?'. 

Maria gave Nel an incredulous look, followed by an accusing one towards Cliff. 

Cliff backpedaled a step. "That was just a _joke_!" 

Nel maintained her bass-etto. "'So what's this queen like, anyway? I was kinda hoping she'd be hot, myself'." 

Maria's glare intensified, while Cliff seemed to wilt a little further. "Er... I can't seem to remember anything like that... anyway, I won't interrupt you ladies. Got things to do, y'know..." 

Both women waited until the doors had closed behind him before allowing themselves to laugh. 

"Oh my," Maria giggled. "Knowing him, I had expected something, but _that_ is vintage Cliff Fitter. I can't wait to tell Mirage when I see her next." 

"Just be glad you weren't the one who was escorting him to see the Queen," Nel voiced, with heartfelt conviction. "When I joined the army, Cliff was _definitely_ not in the job description." 

"I know, he never is," Maria agreed. "But wouldn't you much rather have him on your side than against?" 

Nel allowed the point. "But I still can't imagine how he was accepted into this organization in the first place - what did I say?" 

Maria was smiling again. "Nothing, just thinking of something." 

"Of what?" 

"Nothing. But you know, back to what we were discussing before Cliff showed up..." 

Nel scowled. "Look-" 

Maria waved the objection aside. "In all seriousness, Nel. Once it had been decided that you were coming along with us, I made a point of talking with Cliff, to get his honest opinion on your abilities. Just in the event of a worst-case scenario, you understand." 

Nel raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. 

"In his own words," Maria continued, "you'd be scary as hell had you been born and raised on the Klausian homeworld. And I trust his judgment enough to accept that at face value." 

It wasn't as though Nel had doubts about her own abilities, but that didn't make her entirely immune to compliments. "Thanks, I think." 

"It _is_ a compliment. Cliff says you've got both talent and adaptability, and I'm inclined to agree. And in certain areas, your planet's knowledge of Symbology may even approach _ours_. And if worst comes to worst, you've obviously got combat experience in spades..." 

Nel could feel the 'but' approaching quickly. 

"...but if we do wind up in an unpleasant situation, you're not going to be much help the way you are now." 

"Your doctor said I should be fully healed in a day or two," Nel pointed out. 

"I'm not talking about your health," Maria corrected. "I'm talking about the way you're always staring at everything like an out-of-control tourist." 

Ouch. "You looked pretty distracted when we were in the Chapel at the castle," Nel pointed out, unable to directly refute the statement. 

"That's because it's a beautiful chapel, and we weren't being attacked. I'm not faulting you, but even you can't deny that your effectiveness is going to be compromised if you're forced to operate in a completely unfamiliar environment. Or do _anything_ in this environment, for that matter." 

Once again, Nel was forced to admit that the statement was a true one. Just the same, she hoped it wasn't a prelude to an explanation for sending her back home. "I'll do my best," she promised. 

"Naturally, but that doesn't mean we can't try to make it easier for you. We've got several days before reaching Moonbase, after all." 

"Easier?" _That_ sounded hopeful... 

By way of a reply, Maria stood up from her seat, beckoning for Nel to follow her. "I think it's time for you to go back to school."

* * *

Nel wasn't sure when the shock of seeing new things was supposed to wear off, but after being led into the 'classroom', she knew that it hadn't happened yet. 

"This is called a holodeck," Maria informed her. 

'Holodeck' apparently was a term used to refer to a darkened room, roughly cubical in shape, and illuminated only by a fence-like pattern of glowing green lines that were etched across the walls, ceiling and floor. Size-wise, Nel would have guessed it to be roughly double the length, height and width of her personal quarters back home. Beyond that, Nel could only guess at how this was going to prove educational. 

"They've been around for quite some time, although top-of-the-line models of this size are still uncommon," Maria was continuing. "What this does is create a virtual reality for the people inside, which should make it ideal for trying to explain a few things. This is admittedly not one of my strong points, but I'm sure I couldn't do any worse than Cliff could." 

"True," Nel agreed. "A virtual reality?" 

"What you'll see here isn't actually real," Maria elaborated. "It uses a combination of image projection, gravity simulation, and shaped forcefields to mimic objects. I imagine it also possesses some pretty top-notch intelligence circuits as well. But the bottom line is: everything in here looks real, feels real, acts real... but it's just a simulation." 

"I see," Nel lied. 

"Don't worry about it. Think of it as a hands-on textbook. Computer, disguise hologrid lines, provide general low-level lighting, and display a 3D model of the planet Elicoor II and its satellites, scale system to ninety percent of the holodeck's volume." 

Immediately, the grid-like lines disappeared from the holodeck's surfaces, even as the black walls lightened to a grey-shade, throwing off a glow that lit the room without casting any shadows. In the middle of the room, a large sphere appeared, instantly recognizable as the same object she'd seen from the window of the Diplo. Around it, near the edges of the room, three smaller, plainer-looking spheres were suspended. 

"Interesting," Nel understated, trying to find any hint of imperfection in the image that had appeared before her. "So this... is a model of my world?" 

"Exactly," Maria agreed. "I'm sure you've come a few conclusions of your own already, but this _is_ your world. Or more accurately, your _planet_, which is a more proper name for it. Those three smaller balls are the moons of your planet. Hmm... now that I think about it, it's quite rare for a planet the size of yours to have so many moons. Computer, are the moons of Elicoor II in a stable orbit?" 

"_Affirmative," a soft-spoken female voice replied. "The gravitational centre of the three moons lies within 50 kilometres of the planet's core. Baring outside interference, Orbital stability is expected for at least ten million years._" 

"Interesting," Maria murmured. "That's definitely a one-in-a-million set-up, from what I understand." 

Nel blinked, still trying to get a fix on the source of the female voice. "Who was _that_?" 

"Oh, that? It's an artificial voice used by the computer," Maria assured her. "I'll get around to explaining the idea of 'computers' later on. For now, it's a simulated voice used so that the ship can communicate directly with us." 

"Oh." 

"Anyway, this is your world, Elicoor II, complete with its moons. And there are countless other worlds like this one throughout the universe." 

She had gathered that much from earlier experiences. "Was-is there... another Elicoor somewhere?" 

"Something like that," Maria agreed. "Computer, display the entire Elicoor system to scale, using this entire room." 

Instantly, Nel had the sudden sensation of everything rushing away from her. The model of her planet and moons seemed to shrink until it was nothing more than a tiny speck, small enough to get lost on her fingernail. At the same time, several other miniscule objects appeared, the most noticeable being a tiny, but bright sphere in the center of the room. 

"This is what is known as the Elicoor system," Maria continued. "The bright ball in the middle is your sun. Without getting into too much detail, the sun is basically just like any other star in the sky." 

"The sun is a star? It's quite a bit... bigger, I think." 

"That's because it's much closer than any star. Now if you'll look at your planet... where is it... computer, illuminate planets." 

On command, the various specks seemed to generate a glow around them. 

"That's better," Maria approved, walking over to the glowing spot that represented Elicoor II. "We'd never find the planets, otherwise. Which brings me to another point. This model _is_ to scale. So if you'll just do a general comparison between the size of your entire planet _here_, and the distance between it and the sun..." 

Nel's eyes widened as she looked between the two objects. "That's... a long way." 

"Very. Computer, distance in kilometres between Elicoor II and its sun?" 

"_Depending on season, between 150 and 164 million kilometers._" 

"And the diameter of Elicoor II?" 

"_Eleven thousand, two hundred and fifty-three kilometres at the equator._" 

Nel had never claimed to be a mathematician, but the calculations were self-evident. "And comparing the relative sizes of my planet and this... sun?" 

"The sun heats your world up to the proper temperature by being very big and very hot, but also very far away," Maria summarized. "And to explain why we call your world Elicoor II, each of the other glowing areas around this sun are also planets. None of them are suitable for life like Elicoor II is, but they circle around the sun like yours does. Counting outwards, your planet is the second in line." 

"I... see. So... are other worlds similar to this?" 

"Very much so. Computer, using previous criteria, display the Terran system." 

The process of fading away was something that Nel was getting accustomed to, although she couldn't help but wonder at the exact capabilities of this 'holodeck.' Contemplation, however, was quickly shelved as a large collection of glowing dots came into view, surrounding a bright ball that looked similar to the one coupled with her own planet. 

"This is the Terran system," Maria informed her, "which is the original system that my species is from. More specifically, we're originally from the third planet, Terra III, which we refer to as 'Earth'." 

The name raised a flag in Nel's memory. "Wasn't that man, Commodore Wittcomb, saying that it had been attacked?" 

Maria nodded. "It's still our political and organizational core, which makes it both a symbolic and strategic target for the enemy. We're headed towards there now, in fact." 

"I thought we were headed towards 'Moonbase'?" 

"The planet has one moon," Maria elaborated, "and there's a space station orbiting around the moon, which is our destination." 

"A space station?" 

"Think of it as an artificial city." 

"But aren't all cities artificial?" Nel pointed out. "The walls, the houses..." 

Maria granted the point. "But they're created in a world that's hospitable to life, right? Whereas in space - now that I think about it, I haven't really talked about space, have I?" 

"Space?" 

"That's right. Between all these worlds is basically space. And what 'space' means in this case, is virtually nothing. Absolutely nothing, not even air - at least, not in any meaningful amount. The temperature is approximately minus 273 degrees Celsius. Because there's nothing, it's a big vacuum, which means that before a person suffocated or froze to death, they would probably just explode when their internal body fluids instantly tried to expand." 

Nel nodded slowly, trying not to dwell too much on the graphics of Maria's description. "And this 'space' can be found..." 

"In between all the worlds. The whole point to the spaceships you've seen - and are presently on - is to enable us to survive in space and to travel through it. And it's not an easy task, believe me. The biggest factor in deciding whether or not a planet is 'under-developed' or not is whether or not they've developed space-travel." 

"Which is why my world is considered to be undeveloped?" 

"Exactly." 

Nel filed away the information. It wasn't that she felt much wiser after Maria's explanations, but it was comforting to have some concrete facts to meditate upon, rather than her own speculations. "So... back to the Moonbase - a space station? Which is an artificial city?" 

"That's right. It's a self-contained world, with its own air, food and water, living quarters, and any other facilities needed to let it operate independently from the outside." 

"But... if it's shut off from the outside world... and in space - which has no air..." 

"It's a sealed environment," Maria explained. "Nothing enters or leaves the station except under carefully controlled circumstances. And the resources on the station - including the air - are continuously recycled so that they don't run out." 

"And I'm going to get to see this Moonbase?" 

"In a few days, yes." 

"It must be a fairly long distance away, to take that long." 

Maria smiled, allowing herself a private laugh. "Yes, you could say that. Since we're on that topic, I'm going to try and explain another concept to you. It's called the 'light-year'..."

* * *

Lunch was forthcoming, plentiful, well-prepared, and completely unappreciated on Nel's part. She ate, but so did livestock. She drank, but so did a fish. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the meal, but it simply took a back seat to everything that she'd been learning lately. 

After Nel had finally started to come to grips with the idea of exactly _how_ far away everything was from each other, Maria had decided that a topic change was prudent. Either that, or she was sick of Nel's constant questioning. 

Regardless, the topic of discussion was now 'computers'. Or, to look at it from Nel's perspective, the topic was 'that creepy female voice that keeps speaking from the walls'. Maria was presently attempting to explain the basic concept to Nel, before going on to any more complicated issues. 'Attempting' being the operative word. 

"They're basically machines that are capable of executing instructions very rapidly, in a pre-programmed manner." 

Nel blinked wordlessly, in response to Maria's fourth successive dumbing-down of her explanations. Nel was pretty sure she hadn't even recognized most of the words in the first three sentences. The most recent attempt had the best yet, but Nel strongly suspected that there was an obstacle between the knowledge and her understanding it. Several centuries, from the sounds of it. 

"I wish I could illustrate this on the holodeck," Maria admitted, "but I'm not sure how I would go about doing that. The actual processes are too small to be seen by the human eye, and happen too quickly to be watched..." 

"Care for some company, ladies?" 

Both women turned to look at the new arrival, as if the voice wasn't instantly recognizable on its own. Carrying a tray in his hands, the heaping plates of food suggested that Cliff didn't intend to approach lunch halfway. 

"Hey, I've been getting a lot of exercise lately," he defended, noticing the scrutiny that his meal was getting. "You don't think I got like this on a diet of rice and water, do you?" 

"Of course not," Maria agreed. "According to Mirage, a great deal of Klausian lager was responsible, too." 

"Har har. You're just lucky you're my superior officer. So... how are you getting along so far, Nel?" 

The Elicoorian shrugged. "Alright, I think. Maria has spent the morning explaining various things to me." 

Cliff looked interested. "Really? What sorts of things?" 

"This morning was astronomy," the blue-haired girl replied. "Which actually went quite smoothly with some aid from a holodeck. Right now, I'm attempting to familiarize her with the concept of computers, but we seem to have hit a block. I'm not quite certain how to explain the basic concepts behind the microprocessor." 

Cliff shook his head. "Looks like you're out of practice, Boss. We've been doing so much chasing and fighting lately, you're getting out of practice with your negotiating skills." 

Maria gave him a flat look. "I beg your pardon?" 

"It's just like any other mission for Quark," the Klausian insisted. "You've got two parties- Nel, and Computers. You're job is to bring them into understanding with each other, see?" 

"I think you might be taking the analogy too far." 

"So we've got two parties that don't get along," Cliff continued. "What's the first thing you need to do?" 

"Hmm... tranquilize them?" Maria suggested. 

"Har har, you really _are_ picking up Mirage's sense of humour, aren't you? What's the next thing?" 

"Identify a common ground." 

"That's right. So in this case, we need to find something that relates to both Nel and computers." 

"But there isn't," she pointed out. "That's the whole problem." 

"Come on, I taught you better than that, didn't I?" 

Maria gave Cliff a smile that was too sweet to be genuine. "Yes, you _did_ teach me, didn't you? So tell me, _Cliff-sensei_, why don't you tell me how _you_ would go about solving this problem?" 

"Sheesh, we're touchy, aren't we?" Several large mouthfuls of food disappeared before Cliff finally spoke again. "Welllll... how about your world's runology, Nel? How's that work? Those funny patterns of lines, right?" 

"Runes," Nel agreed. "They channel runological force and transform it into useful forms of power." 

"Are there different kinds of runological force?" 

"In a sense, yes. Elena could explain it better than I could, but we know that there are different types of power. Different 'colours', Elena sometimes calls them, but that's just a figure of speech. " 

"And what happens when you put the different 'colours' into a rune?" 

"Different results, of course. We've learned how to design single runes that produce a variety of useful effects, depending on the exact type of power fed in. That's how I can use different kinds of magic, by controlling what kind of power I send into my runes." 

"So basically, those runes take in runological power, and give out other kinds of power, right? Depending on how the rune is designed?" 

"More or less, yes." 

"So," Cliff interrupted. "It sounds a lot like an input-output sort of system, wouldn't you say? Think you could find any common ground in that, Boss?"   
Maria scowled, but gave a grudging nod. "I suppose you're right." 

"Of course I'm right. Cliff-sensei is _always_ right." 

"If _Cliff-sensei_ is looking for a demotion, he's looking in the right place, you know." 

"Ah, I leave the rest in your capable hands," Cliff assured her, quickly busying himself with his meal. "Just pretend I'm not here." 

Maria rolled her eyes, but looked back at Nel. "Anyway, as I was trying to explain before the two of us were so _rudely_ interrupted..."

* * *

"...but it will only be for a short time, so I'm sure we can make due." 

Nel nodded at what seemed like appropriate intervals during Maria's explanations. The rest of her was looking at everything. 'Everything' meaning _everything_. If the last few hours of talking with Maria were to be taken at face value, Nel was surrounded by 'computers'. In the floors, the walls, the ceilings, _everywhere_. 

Some did basic, mundane tasks like making doors open or turning lights on. Others did complex tasks like making the entire spaceship operate properly - as it traveled at a speed that Nel wouldn't have even remotely considered possible yesterday. No matter how big or small the task, there seemed to be computer designed to handle the job. 

Which was the entire point, Maria said. It was a basic concept that could be expanded and modified to an near-infinite degree, until the majority of advanced civilization was built upon it. But at the same time, the same concept was so flexible that there was no danger of it suddenly collapsing or stagnating from a single weak point. 

Independent thinking machines, Nel had suggested at one point. Almost person-like. 

Yes, but only to a point, Maria was quick to caution her. They weren't actually sentient (another new word), even if they sometimes seemed so. But in the grand tradition of obsessive, narrow-minded scientists everywhere, there was no shortage of efforts to change that. 

In the meantime, the concepts behind more conventional computers were being steadily refined, improved, and further integrated into everyday facets of society. Truly, the field was growing in new and exciting ways, on a day-by-day basis... 

Nel was beginning to have a sneaking suspicion that Maria liked computers. Really, _really_ liked computers. 

"Nel?" 

They had come to a stop in front of a set of doors, Nel realized, that weren't automatically opening like most seemed to. "Yes?" 

"We're here," Maria elaborated. 

"Oh." Nel flushed. "Ah, exactly where is this?" 

"You haven't been paying attention the last five minutes, have you?" 

"Er... sorry. I've got a lot on my mind. What did I miss?" 

Maria waved it aside. "Nothing important, aside from our sleeping arrangements while on board this ship." 

Sleep was beginning to register as something important, since Nel could already feel her body getting tired, reminding her that it was busy trying to finish healing an injury. "We're sleeping in here?" 

"That's right. The Aqualie is presently fully staffed for combat conditions, which means that there aren't many spare sleeping quarters available. So Cliff and Fayt will be in one room, while you, Sophia and myself will use this one. The Commodore apologized for the cramped quarters, but it was the best he could arrange." 

"I'm sure that it will be no problem-" The door slid aside as Maria tapped a button on the wall. Nel scanned the room for a moment, taking in everything as best she could. There were four platforms with sheets were easy to identify as beds. Also present throughout the room were what Nel could now (with no small amount of pride) identify as computer screens, food processors, intercoms (for long-distance talking throughout the ship), and through an open doorway, what looked like a deluxe version of a washroom. "This... qualifies as a _hardship_ for you?" she asked incredulously. 

Maria laughed quietly. "Somehow, I didn't think you'd have any problem with the arrangements. But for your information, my private quarters back on the Diplo are almost this big." 

Nel shook her head in disbelief. "This is more than adequate, I assure you. Are the beds assigned?" 

"Take your pick," Maria invited, following her own instructions and taking one of the four beds in the room. "Sophia can take one of the remaining two when she gets here. Did you want to shower tonight?" 

"Shower?" 

"You know, shower? To clean up?" 

"You mean, bathing?" 

"That's right. Hmm... you remember the faucets in the washroom? You might say that we have larger scale versions used for bathing." 

Right there, Nel came to a realization - her brain was full. "Tomorrow sounds great," she decided firmly. 

Her expression must have filled in the blanks, because Maria smiled and nodded. "Get some rest, we can continue where we left off tomorrow. Unless Federation standards for guest quarters have changed recently, one of the drawers by your bed should have some unisex sleepwear that you can use." 

Sleepwear? Nel evaluated her own clothing. While she hadn't really paid it too much mind earlier, it was admittedly showing the worst of the past few days. Owing to the nature of her recent injury, the bloodstains were both burnt to a crisp and minimal, but the dirt and grass marks were doing their best to make up for it. Naturally, it wouldn't be polite to sleep on host's bed in such clothing. Especially since, as Nel understood things, she technically wasn't even supposed to _be_ here in the first place. 

"And while we're at it," Maria added, "we might as well get your clothing cleaned. I think you're going like how we do laundry around here." 

"Let me guess - a computer does that too?" 

"You're catching on."

* * *

end 


	10. Chapter 10

Valley of the Wind Productions presents   
Points of View   
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic   
by Intrasonic

* * *

Setting: Federation Battleship Aqualie, en route to Moonbase (day 2)

* * *

"Good morning, Commodore... no, I woke up several hours ago, actually..." 

That was, Nel murkily registered, the sound of Maria's voice, sounding far more alert and awake than she herself presently felt. Without the usual sunset and sunrise to gauge time by, it was hard to tell how long she'd been sleeping for. Whatever the actual case, it seemed as though she'd slept long enough that some of the room's lights were back on again. Turning her head slightly, she strained to pick up the other half of the conversation. 

_"I was wondering if you and Cliff would care to join me for breakfast this morning?"_

"Breakfast?" 

_"Unless you've already eaten...?"_

"Not at all, and Cliff's always got room for more food. We'd be delighted." 

_"Glad to hear it. Not that I don't look forward to the company regardless, but there have been some new developments that I think you'll want to hear about as well."_

Maria laughed quietly. "Well, now you've _really_ got my interest. What time?" 

_"We won't reach Moonbase until early this afternoon, and my schedule this morning is free, so at your convenience."_

"Is half an hour acceptable? I'll track down Cliff and wake him up." 

_"Excellent. Until then?"_

"Until then," Maria agreed. 

"Maria?" That was Sophia, who sounded only slightly less tired than Nel herself. 

"I'm going to be sitting down to breakfast with Commodore Wittcomb," Maria explained. "You just get some rest. You've been through quite a bit recently, after all." 

"Mmph," Sophia agreed. 

"That's the idea. If Nel wakes up before I'm back, tell her we'll pick up where we left off this afternoon, okay?" 

"Mmph." 

"Thanks. See you later." 

"Mmph." 

Nel couldn't have phrased it better herself.

* * *

Nel had hunch that she would have been content to stay in bed all day, but several hours later, it became apparent that the five cups of tea she'd drunk yesterday during suppertime (and Maria's lectures) had other ideas. And iron-will or not, basic biology couldn't be denied forever. 

At least _this_ time, she reflected, she knew where the washroom was. 

Getting out of bed was accomplished by virtue of rolling over and finding out that she was already at the edge of her bed. Gravity could be informative that way. 

"Are you... okay?" 

Sitting up, Nel turned to look at the bed next to hers, presently containing a sleepy-looking, but mildly concerned Sophia. "Urgh. I'm fine. I'm just used to sleeping on a bigger bed, or no bed at all." 

"Oh... okay." The issue settled, Sophia's eyelids promptly dropped shut again. 

Not feeling particularly talkative herself, Nel staggered to her feet, and headed towards the washroom to relieve certain demands. 

Maria had explained the basics behind the washroom yesterday, particularly the part about how the water supply was controlled. This ship clearly used a lot of water, Nel had quickly realized. Not only was there was a device called a faucet that seemed to supply an endless amount of clean water (temperature controlled, no less!), but even the replacement for the chamber pot seemed to consume water in abundance. And of course the 'food replicators' seemed to have no trouble creating glasses of water on demand. 

While the advantages were obvious, in respect to both cleanliness and convenience, the blatant waste of good water had initially appalled Nel. But Maria had quickly assured her that there was absolutely no danger of running out of water, since it was recycled and purified by the ship's on-board systems. 

Nel wasn't certain she wanted to dwell too long on the 'recycling' concept, but she would at least take Maria's word that the water supply was in absolutely no danger of being depleted. What _that_ translated into was the latest development in the area of excessive water usage - the shower. 

Shucking the pajamas that she had worn the night before, Nel boldly stepped into the glass chamber, her weariness already fading away in anticipation of an endless overhead supply of cascading hot water, available at the mere push of a switch- 

"YAAAAAAH! COLD!" 

Even as her entire body was subjected to a deluge of frigid water, Nel flailed frantically for the temperature control switch and twisted- 

"OUCHOUCH! HOT!" 

Another frantic bout of scrambling at the buttons eventually managed to halt the water flow, leaving a half-frozen, half-boiled Nel gasping for breath. 

_"Nel?"_ Sophia's voice called out. _"Are you okay?"_

Well, she was certainly fine, Nel reflected, and she was now _extremely_ awake. Her pride was another matter, however. "I'm fine. Just... getting used to this... device." 

_"Oh... okay."_

Nel made an accusing face at the shower controls, then finally noticed a series of notches arranged around the temperature knob, complete with suggestive red and blue arrows. Deepening her scowl, she reached out and turned the knob to the halfway point. 

Pushing the first knob, she tensed as the overhead device started spraying water again. Fortunately, the water was more temperate this time, and there was no need to take cover a third time. Some further experimentation allowed her to add some more warmth to the water, until it was more to her liking. 

Standing under the shower, Nel allowed herself a smile as the hot water began to slowly dissolve the aches and pains from the last few days. She didn't pretend to understand exactly _how_ the water supply could be endless, but there was no time like the present to put that claim to the test.

* * *

Almost half an hour later, Nel finally decided that she had adequately demonstrated the water supply's inexhaustibility. Actually, the last half of her shower had been spent simply increasing the temperature in small increments until it was as hot as she could stand. Once she'd gotten used to how sensitive and fine-tuned the controls were, the shower was actually quite enjoyable to use. Almost like a hot spring and massage at the same time, without having to find a location with the former, or a person willing to perform the latter. Hopefully, she would have a chance to take advantage of this again at a later time. 

The toiletries were also quite nice. The soap was both very gentle and surprisingly effective at cleaning (Was _that_ what colour her skin really was?), the shampoo lathered up and rinsed away effortlessly (Had her hair _ever_ been that soft and shiny before?), and the towel was softer and fluffier than any Nel had ever seen before (Did _any_ animal have fur like that?). 

She was definitely going to inquire about the possibility of souvenirs, Nel decided firmly. _Lots_ of souvenirs. 

Her next obstacle occurred after leaving the shower, her towel wrapped around her as best she could manage (apparently even advanced civilizations hadn't learned how to make a towel that properly covered everything). Put simply, she realized that she needed some clothing to wear. She had seen Maria put her dirty clothing into a hole in the wall (that looked very similar to the food replicator), press a series of buttons that made the clothing disappear (similar to how the food replicator 'washed' the dishes), and inform Nel that they'd be clean for the next morning. 

What Maria _hadn't_ done was tell Nel exactly _where_ they'd be the next morning. And Nel was now beginning to seriously regret that oversight, because she had absolutely no desire to go wandering around the ship looking for Maria, clad only in a towel that was rapidly proving inadequate for the task of keeping her decent- 

-and to top it off, she could now feel someone's eyes on her. Very intently and directly, and in a way that her danger-sense was alerting her to. You _could_ be a spy without developing a sixth sense for unwanted attention, but usually not a very successful (or living) one. 

Turning her head to scan the room, her gaze immediately focused on the only other person in the room - Sophia. Who was now sitting up in her bed (looking much more awake) and, as Nel had suspected, staring wide-eyed at her with an intensity that bordered on disturbing. 

Nel coughed politely, for one frantic moment praying that she hadn't _completely_ misunderstood the younger girl's fawning over Fayt... "Can I... help you?" 

Sophia blinked several times, then seemed to realize what she was doing, and coloured slightly. "Oh, um, sorry. Are... those symbols?" 

Nel looked to either side of her, but saw nothing of interest. At least, nothing that Sophia probably didn't know more about than she did. 

"No," the other girl elaborated. "Those lines on your body... are those symbols?" 

"They're runes," Nel replied. "They help me use runology." 

A confused look. "Runology?" 

The outsiders had used a different term for runology, Nel managed to recall. "I think you people call it symbology," she offered helpfully. 

Sophia brightened. "I thought so! I didn't think anything of it when we first met, because... there were other things going on-" 

Nel nodded understandingly. 

"-and I thought they might have just been some cultural tattoos, anyway. But just now, I got a better look at them..." Sophia trailed off sheepishly, as though suddenly making a connection. "Um... excuse me. I'll go shower now. You can go ahead and get dressed." 

"About that..." 

A few explanations and re-explanations later, Nel was watching Sophia operate the laundry device, more than a little impressed, despite herself. Not that she hadn't seen her fair share miraculous technology over the last few days, but there was still something profoundly gratifying about seeing a menial task like laundry done by a machine. 

In response to Nel's laundry concerns, Sophia was quick to reassure her that there wouldn't be any problems. Apparently, Maria had neglected to mention that the machine could be instructed to 'rematerialize' the clothing it had taken away, minus the dirt in it. 

Even now, Sophia was rapidly tapping on the laundry machines input surface (apparently called a 'keyboard', despite the obvious lack of keys), attempting to locate the whereabouts of Nel's clothing. "...so I'll just cycle through the stored clothing... Maria already got her clothing... those are mine... so these must be yours... there we go! Just give it a few seconds..." 

The surface above the keyboard was called a 'monitor screen', according to Maria's lesson, and its purpose was to display words to inform the user what was going on. Unfortunately, it did so in a language that Nel was completely unable to read, which made it somewhat useless to her personally. 

As Maria had explained yesterday, the communicators that the off-worlder's possessed handled translation duties for speech, but couldn't do anything about writing. Fortunately, Nel had (so far) only associated with people who possessed translators, so it hadn't been an issue. But since most of the crew didn't normally carry communicators, Maria had cautioned her about trying to talk with crewmembers aboard the spaceship. 

Fortunately, many computers (including this one) were considerate enough to also display a gray bar across the bottom, which was rapidly being coloured green as the device performed its task. Once the bar was completely filled in, the task was completed, and Nel could reclaim her uniform... 

Sophia abruptly made a distressed noise. "Oh my..." 

Nel made a similar noise, her eyes widening in horror. "Is... are those my..." 

Lying in a pile inside the machine was a pile of tattered cloth strips and metal mesh, their colour the only suggestion that they might have once been a combat uniform. Nel's combat uniform, to be specific. Some of it, at any rate. It had the look that suggested it had been feeding a family of moths for the ten years previous. 

"I... think so... oh dear. What cleaning cycle did you tell the machine to use?" 

"Cleaning cycle? Maria just put them in this computer and told me they'd be as good as new tomorrow." 

"Is that right? What is... was your uniform made of?" 

"Made of? Mostly cotton, I think. The main piece, leggings, and gauntlets are boiled leather with steel mesh woven in. The scarf and undergarments are silk. Why?" 

Sophia sighed. "Mostly organic, right? I don't think Maria is very experienced when it comes to doing laundry. When you're cleaning clothes with a lot of organic fabrics, you need to warn the machine, otherwise it can't always tell the difference between the dirt and the fabrics. And stuff like blood. Especially when the clothes are really dirty, like yours were." 

It was Nel's turn to sigh. She should have known these 'computers' were too good to be true. 

Sophia pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I guess we'll have to try and find something else for you to wear."

* * *

"And this is... common?" 

"Oh yes." 

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Sophia was proving quite resourceful in certain areas, such as improvising wardrobes for clothing-deprived visitors from other worlds after a computer had destroyed their only set of garments. 

"Not just used for festive occasions? Or perhaps ceremonial purposes?" 

"No. It's casual wear, that's all. What do you think?" 

"..." Nel replied eloquently, eyeing herself in the room's full-length mirror. 

"I know the colours don't quite match you," Sophia admittedly, looking a little embarrassed about the fact. "But it's the only other outfit I have with me, sorry. How does it feel?" 

"The pants are a little tight," she understated. "But nothing too serious." 

"Don't worry, they're supposed to be that way." 

"...I see. I don't suppose a belt is available? The top button seems to be missing..." 

"Don't worry, that's on purpose." 

"...I see. This top... I won't offend anyone, will I? It's rather light, and my undergarments seem to have been ruined along with the rest of my uniform..." 

"Don't worry, the top is designed to be worn without a bra. Don't worry, it's thick material, and stretchy in the right places for support and, um, decency." 

"...I see," Nel lied for the third time. 

"Is it okay?" Sophia asked anxiously. 

With some effort, Nel stifled a variety of responses and expressions. 

In the absence of any other clothing, Sophia had produced her other set of clothing, which she had been wearing while being kidnapped by (and later rescued from) the Vendeeni. She had since elected to wear something more practical, but had reasoned that there was no reason that Nel couldn't use her other clothing until the problem was remedied. 

'Other clothing' was a euphemism for what was _clearly_ an engineered move on Sophia's part for getting Fayt's undivided attention. The sandals, Nel had no issue with, as long as she wasn't forced into any strenuous activity. Calf-length pants that were tight enough to severely restrict circulation and didn't bother buttoning up all the way in the front were another matter. A top that was held up by two straps thinner than her baby finger and offered a little _too much_ circulation was the other half of the problem. The fact that, compared to Sophia, Nel was possessed of both a few extra inches in height and a few extra pounds in muscle only exaggerated the effect. 

It wasn't that Nel had anything against flattering clothing, when circumstances allowed (not very often, these days). But her present wardrobe was somehow managing to both cover everything quite decently, and at the same time, doing a stunning job of letting a viewer know _exactly_ what was being covered. Maybe Sophia thought otherwise, but Nel could see these clothes for what they were - courtship plumage. 

"...I'm sure this ship has somewhere that we can get some other clothes, but I'm not sure where it would be..." 

Countering the previous points was the incredibly earnest and concerned expression that Sophia was radiating like a high-powered thunder spell, which was having the effect of making Nel feel like the Commander of the Secret Legion of Puppy-Murderers. And considering that Fayt hadn't complained about the clothing _she'd_ procured for him after breaking him out of prison, could she do any less? 

Faced with the choice of feeling a little like a harlot or a lot like a heel, she reluctantly chose the former. "It's quite fine, thank-you. I'm... just having a little trouble getting used to not wearing my armour, that's all." 

Sophia nodded fervently. After trying to remove the leftover armour remains (mostly steel mesh) from the laundry machine, she had been forced to settle for making two trips. "I never thought of that." 

Neither had Nel until a few seconds ago, but she had no intention of offending the person who had gone out of her way to help her in her most recent time of need. "It _is_ comfortable," she offered honestly. 

And since when had she ever been _that_ self-conscious? As serious as the situation was, this probably qualified as a vacation by her standards, and surely there was no harm in dressing down a little. Or a lot, as the case was turning out to be. Besides, this clothing still paled in comparison to some of the wardrobes from the Sanmite Republic. "I don't think I've ever seen this sort of fabric before." 

"I guess not," Sophia replied. "They're synthetic - that means artificial - fabrics. Most clothing these days is, although if you want, you can special order clothing with natural fabrics. They're nice too, but they don't last as long, and you have to be careful when you clean them." 

"So I've heard," Nel agreed dryly, heading over to the table beside her bed. Thankfully, she hadn't included her weapons along with the rest of her uniform. She didn't think they qualified as 'organic' but the harness might have. 

Sophia looked rather shocked. "You're going to wear those?" 

"Hmm?" Nel finished adjusting the strap around her waist. The harness for her blades might chafe her waist a little, but it was hopefully only for a short time. And carrying weaponry had a way of making her feel less wanton. "Why not? They're my blades." 

"Ah... I don't think you need to carry weapons around on board the ship..." 

"I wasn't planning on using them," Nel assured her. "But they're family heirlooms, and quite valuable. And I thought this ship was a battleship?" 

Sophia looked uncertain. "Well, yes, but people don't usually carry weapons around unless they're Security." 

"Maria was carrying her weapon," Nel pointed out. "And nobody objected to my carrying these weapons yesterday." 

Sophia seemed to give up. "Oookay. But just wear them, all right? No using them." 

"Don't worry," Nel reassured her. "The last thing I want to do is upset anyone."

* * *

If karma were currency, Sophia would have been a millionaire. 

In case her actions thus far weren't proof enough, Sophia had one-upped her performance by accompanying Nel to get breakfast. To be exact, Sophia had asked Nel if she would mind some company, as though Nel was actually the one bestowing the favour. Rather than bother arguing the point, Nel had immediately accepted. 

This had multiple advantages, from her point of view. Firstly, she got to see more of the giant ship she was on. Secondly, she had someone to answer her questions. Thirdly, she got fed. As a bonus, she received a welcome change of pace from her learning sessions yesterday. 

No fault to Maria, but the young woman's teaching methods resembled nothing so much as a concise, fast-paced, intense, military briefing. While Nel had nothing against the format, having been on both sides of the process frequently, experiencing it for hours on end was mentally draining. 

In complete contrast, Sophia _conversed_. She answered questions, but she also asked questions, which was a first for Nel since leaving Elicoor II. It wasn't that she wasn't willing to answer, but she simply hadn't encountered any areas where she knew more than anyone else. 

Until now, that is. 

"So there are lots of people with runes like you?" Sophia wanted to know. 

"A fair number in my own country," Nel confirmed. 

"So how do you get your powers?" 

"According to legend, Queen Aquaria I was given a relic called the Sacred Orb from the sun-god Apris. At the same time, her blood was infused with the gift of Runology, and has since been passed down through her descendents. The stronger and more direct the bloodline, the stronger the runological powers that the descendent can manifest." 

"I see. So you have the powers inside you, the runes are just focusing devices?" 

"More or less. They also serve to... polarize it. Pure runological power is difficult to use in any capacity, but if it is changed into something like fire or lightning, it can be directed much easier." 

"That makes sense. According to modern symbological theory, certain patterns can convert symbological energy into more common types of energy, like heat or electricity." 

Nel raised an eyebrow. "You know, I don't think I've met anyone else outside of my planet who knows much about Runology. Or Symbology, as you call it. Aside from you, and perhaps Maria..." 

"It's not a very common study, really. But my father is a leading expert in Space-Time theory, and a lot of his studies centre around symbological energies, so I've learned some of it myself. " 

Nel blinked. "_What_ theory? And symbological _what_?" 

Sophia looked a little sheepish. "Um... I'm not really sure how to explain it. It's pretty advanced stuff, even for us. I don't understand a lot of it yet, but I've learned some of the more common symbological material, like symbol patterns." 

"Which is how you recognized my runes earlier," Nel realized. To her chagrin, she was beginning to realize that she had underestimated the girl. "Are they used by other... worlds?" 

Sophia shook her head. "A few low-level examples. But from what Fayt said, the level that your world uses Symbology at is _very_ rare. He said that you actually built a weapon that could damage a battleship's shields, and I've _never_ heard of anything like that before." 

Nel couldn't keep from feeling a little pride at the statement. She would have to remember to tell Elena exactly how successful the Thunder Arrow was, in the greater scheme of things. And knowing Elena, the woman would already be thinking of ways to improve the device. 

"...the only other world I've heard of that might come close would be Expel," Sophia continued. "They developed a type of Symbology that they called 'Heraldry'. Several centuries ago, they documented the use of a symbological weapon that they called the 'Lacour Hope', which was supposedly able to destroy an entire island in one shot. But they didn't record how big of an island it was, or whether it was 100 symbological or not." 

"Interesting," Nel observed. "You seem quite well-studied in this area." 

Sophia reddened at the praise. "Well, my father is an expert in the field, so I guess some of it rubbed off. And I've already taken some symbological theory in my school's program." 

"Schooling? What sort of studies do you people partake in?" 

"Hmm... that depends, I guess. The older you get, the more choices you have. I'm enrolled in Space-Time scientific studies at my school." 

"And what do those studies entail?" 

"Um... it's hard to describe. It's mostly different branches of physics, but there's also a lot of math, engineering and other sciences involved." 

Nel nodded, suitably impressed. "That's an impressive variety of studies. And you choose to take these studies? What other options are there?" 

"Well... there's the Arts. Things like music, architecture, media studies, and acting. Or the Sciences - biology, chemistry, physics, archaeology, that sort of thing. And there's lots of different kinds of engineering studies... robotics, mechanical, computer, civil, deep-space, and, um, lots of others. And if you get really advanced, the studies all start to overlap each other and get _really_ complicated. Really, there's studies for almost everything you can think of." 

"Clearly... but surely no one person would have time for them all?" 

Sophia shook her head. "Oh no, that would be impossible. Usually you decide what area you're interested in, and concentrate on that area. That's why I'm focusing on Space-Time Sciences. That's my father's field of study, you see." 

"You mention that earlier, " Nel noted in approval. "So you're following in your father's path, similar to myself." 

"Oh? What does he do?" 

"He... was the leader of the Secret Legion in my country, until several years ago." 

There was a brief pause as Sophia correctly interpreted Nel's use of the past tense. "Oh... you mean he... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" 

Nel smiled, waving aside her concern. "That's alright. He died honourably in battle, while saving the lives of many soldiers under his command. He was both an excellent leader and a good father, which is how I remember him. And I'm sure that you'll do an excellent job of following in your own father's footsteps." 

Sophia flushed again, as she was clearly prone to doing under praise. "I hope so. Ah... what kind of studies do you have on Elicoor II? Does everyone learn about Symbol-I mean, Runology?" 

Nel stifled a smile, but didn't object to the topic change. "As a matter of fact, no. The majority of people receive no formal schooling at all, save what is passed down from parent to child." 

"Really? What about you?" 

"I have fairly strong runological powers, as well as noble lineage. So I've been studied in both runology and scholarly pursuits. As much as a soldier like myself could expect to be, at any rate." 

"Scholarly pursuits? What's that?" 

"Reading and writing, mostly. For myself, there were also areas such as map-reading and politics." 

"Doesn't everyone learn how to read and write?" 

Nel shook her head. "I imagine that more than half the peasants in my country lack the ability to properly read and write. It's even worse in Airyglyph, I understand. My Queen has, on occasion, expressed interest in improving matters, but the war has given us other priorities. But that may change, with the recent peace treaty." 

"That would be a good thing," Sophia agreed. "I haven't taken many social studies courses, but I know that for cultures to advance, it's important that as many people as possible know how to read and write, to improve communication." 

"Then I will be certain to tell my Queen that when I see her next," Nel decided firmly. "I suppose that you people would be in a position to know about such matters. And I _would_ like to see more of my people able to improve their lot in life. I suppose it's little wonder that Fayt was able to offer so much knowledge to us." 

Incidentally, upon inquiring about Fayt earlier, Sophia had replied that Fayt was probably still sleeping, so she would let him wake up on his own. Or else wake him up shortly before they arrived at Moonbase. The two of them had talked a great deal the previous night, but the death of his father was clearly (and understandably) affecting Fayt a great deal. To his credit, the boy was doing his best to put on a strong front (especially around Maria), but... 

Nel didn't pretend to understand everything about the recent situation, but it seemed fairly obvious that Fayt was due for some serious eye-opening events in the near-future. In fact, both he and Maria were clearly counting on it, hence their traveling to Moonbase right now. With that in mind, it seemed only right to let him rest awhile longer. 

Nel pursed her lips as something else about Fayt came to mind. "Come to think of it, what manner of studies _is_ Fayt enrolled in?" 

"He's enrolled in Symbological studies at the same school as me." 

A doubtful look. "Is that so? To be honest, he didn't seem to display much interest in such matters while on my world..." 

Sophia sighed. "He's... not the best at studying, really. He's really smart, but he spends too much time playing sports and his Battle Simulator games." 

Nel raised an eyebrow. "Battle Simulator games? What are those?" 

"Well... did Maria mention something called a holodeck?" 

"She used one while teaching me a number of things. It's a room that can create images that seem real?" 

"That's right. You can use them to play games on, too. Fayt plays a game that uses the holodeck as a battle simulator, which creates monsters for him to fight. He's spent a lot of time on it, when he should have been doing more studying." 

Nel checked herself to make sure she wasn't drooling. "It creates monsters to fight? But not real monsters, obviously. That might be considered dangerous for many people." 

"The program has safeguards to keep you from being seriously hurt. I saw Fayt with a bruise, once or twice, but never anything more. But he's pretty good, I think." 

"Indeed... perhaps that explains the surprising level of skill he displayed in combat while on my world." 

Sophia giggled. "Don't tell him that! He'll use it as an excuse to spend even _more_ time in the simulator! But was he really good? I mean, Fayt was saying that both you and Cliff and Maria were _really_ good..." 

"Well-" After a moment's consideration, Nel decided not to mention that both herself and Cliff - and later on, Maria - had clearly all had vested interests in keeping Fayt safe from serious harm. Thus, whether Fayt had realized it or not, he had rarely been in the thick of any fights, and never for very long. But just the same... 

"-He conducted himself quite admirably," she informed Sophia honestly. "Truth be told, I hadn't expected such a level of talent from him." 

"Well, he sure spends a lot of time in his Battle Simulations," Sophia agreed. "He was even trying to get _me_ into them... oh! I know how we can cheer Fayt up!" 

"Hmm?" 

"We could invite him along for a three-person game!" 

There was, Nel realized, a new problem developing. Namely, a very large, goofy, stupid-looking smile was beginning to appear on her face, despite her best efforts.   
"Really?" 

"It might get his mind off things for a little while," Sophia decided. Looking back at Nel, "Do you mind? Just for a little while?" 

"I would be happy to help out," Nel assured Sophia. Very, very, very happy to. "When can we start?" 

"Erm... why don't we go try it out first? And then we can surprise him when he wakes up." 

"Lead the way."

* * *

If her memory of this spaceship's corridors was accurate, Nel was fairly certain that the holodeck that Sophia led them into was a different one than what Maria had used. Despite that, the appearance inside was the same, right down to the glowing green grid lines that were etched along the floor, walls and ceiling. 

Sophia cleared her throat. "Computer?" 

_"Working."_

"Um... can you bring up the VR Battle Simulator program?" 

_"Loaded. Please be aware that due to the Aquaelie running at combat readiness, certain environment simulations may be restricted to conserve computing power. Do you wish to specify parameters?"_

"Um... can you... access the last time I was using it on Hyda IV?" 

_"Affirmative. Please enter identification."_

There was an object built into the wall near the entrance, possessing most of the characteristics that Nel was beginning to associate with computers, particularly the 'keyboard' and the 'monitor screen'. The characters that flashed across the monitor screen were gibberish, as usual. 

After several seconds of rapid typing by Sophia... 

_"Battleground loaded. Monster level E. Character profile 'Flare Witch Cecillia Femina' loaded. User level E. Accumulated points... 001. Awaiting instructions for second individual."_

Sophia gave Nel an appraising look. "Create a new profile, I guess." 

_"Character name?"_

Sophia gestured for Nel to reply. 

"Nel Zelpher." 

_"Character class?"_

Nel gave Sophia a confused look. "Class?" 

Sophia shrugged. "Er... my character is a 'Flare Witch', whatever that means. In this game, I'm a Symbology user. Fayt plays as a 'Sword Master', because his character uses a sword. What kind of fighter are you?" 

"Um... I would be... a Runological Soldier, I suppose?" 

_"Error. This class is not registered in the databanks. Do you wish to input the specifications for a new class?"_

Sophia looked pained. "Um... let's not worry about that. Computer, can we bypass this step?" 

_"Affirmative. Character 'Nel Zelpher' will be listed as 'classless' until further notice. Please specify the type of weapon you wish the simulator to provide."_

Nel drew one of her blades and gave it an experimental spin. "Can I use my own?" 

_"Affirmative. Parameters can be customized at a later time if desired. Start program?"_

"Start program," Sophia agreed. 

_"Preparing to commence. This simulation system may abort a game if it detects that player safety is at risk."_

Abruptly, most of the holodeck grid lines dimmed, and several new lines appeared around the outside edges. An arena for battle, complete with boundaries, it could be assumed. Strangely enough, it almost seemed to cover more area now, than the holodeck had originally. And at the same time... 

"So it can create clothing and weapons as well?" Nel observed in surprise. 

Sure enough, Sophia's clothing had been overlaid with some glowing green patches, on her shoulders, chest and legs. Given the style and positioning, Nel assumed it was intended to function as armour. Strapped across the back was a long, wooden-looking stick with a star-shaped object affixed to one end - a runological wand, no doubt. 

"This is probably the default armour design," Sophia guessed, looking herself over briefly. 

"It didn't create any for me," Nel noted. 

"Maybe it's because you don't have a class. I didn't think it would be so complicated to get started. Fayt set it all up for me in a few minutes." 

"I'm sure it won't be a problem," Nel decided firmly. "We're just starting on a basic level, correct? I'm quite accustomed to combat. This will be good practice for me, as well." 

"Are your clothes going to be okay?" 

"I'm sure they will be," Nel assured her. The top was certainly in no danger of restricting her freedom of movement, although the footwear and pants were another matter. "I'll just set your sandals off to the side for now. Barefoot is actually good for fighting, aside from the lack of protection. And the computer claimed that it would avoid letting us be harmed, correct?" 

"That makes sense," Sophia admitted. "You're sure picking this up quickly, you know." 

Nel couldn't help but flush a little. "I'm trying my best. Under the circumstances, I would prefer to avoid inconveniencing others as much as possible." 

"Don't worry about it. I think you're doing fine," Sophia assured her, returning her attention to the battle field. "Start simulation, computer." 

On cue, two shapes materialized on the far side of the holodeck. 

"Our opponents," Nel guessed, taking in the Orcish-looking characters. If they were anything like their cousins on Elicoor II, they were fairly slow and stupid creatures, which probably made them perfect as 'easy' opponents. These particular examples were holding proper clubs instead of crude tree branches, but that was the only obvious difference that Nel could see. 

"Impressive," Nel admitted, looking for any flaws in the images before her. It was a futile attempt, right down the breathing and shadows underneath the creatures. "If I didn't know that this was all an illusion..." 

"It can simulate Symbology, too," Sophia pointed out, taking the wand up in her one hand. "If I do certain motions with it, it simulates blasts of symbological energy, so I can attack from a distance." 

"Impressive. And the enemies fight back, I assume?" 

"They wait until you make the first move, I think," Sophia offered. "Are you ready?" 

Nel shifted her stance to a more combat-suitable one. The clothing felt a little strange, but lack of weight helped to compensate. And the floor was offering excellent grip for her bare feet, which was also a bonus. "You get the right one, I'll get the left," she suggested. "Whoever's done first backs up the other." 

Sophia steeled her features and nodded. "Right. Let's-" 

Nel exploded forwards, charging straight for the monster on the left. 

"-go," Sophia finished lamely, hastily beginning to make motions with her wand. 

Even as the monster finally began to raise its club, Nel was already inside the weapon's arc, her own daggers already out and moving. Planting one foot on the ground firmly, she launched herself upwards in a spinning motion, both blades fanning outwards. 

The first slice ripped through the top of the monster's arm, while the second tore across its chest. Letting the spin continue, Nel let her first blade come around again, passing through the now-maimed monster's neck. That done, she let her leg extend in a spin kick that served to knock the now-dead monster away from her, and let her bounce away to land a safe distance away from the other monster. 

As it turned out, the last step proved redundant, since the second monster was still aiming towards Sophia. Unfortunately, Sophia had stopped attacking, and was now staring at Nel like she'd been transfigured into the Holy Mother Herself... 

"Eyes front!" Nel warned, already shifting her weight in preparation for another sprint... 

Sophia gave a squeek of dismay, jumping away from the monster's clumsy swing. Waving her wand in front of her, she conjured a blast of energy that struck the monster on the shoulder, serving more to stagger it than do any real damage- 

-at which point Nel's airborne form blurred past at head level, an icy-silver glint passing through the monster's neck with only a hint of resistance. Landing, rolling, standing, and sheathing her blade was done with a smoothness and economy of motion that didn't seem to differentiate between the various steps. 

Sophia was gaping again, much like the first time. "W-wow! You... how did you _do_ that!" 

Nel raised an eyebrow curiously. "Do what?" 

"What you just did!" Sophia made several gestures to pantomime Nel's spinning attack on the first monster, and her aerial assault on the second. "Those moves!" 

"Well, I _am_ a soldier, you know." 

"I know, but..." Sophia seemed at a loss for adequate words. "... wow. I couldn't do anything like _that_..." 

Nel winced, briefly cursing her own stupidity. In her eagerness to cut loose and try out the latest development, she'd forgotten that she was with someone else. Someone else who, for the purposes of this exercise, was a trainee soldier. Had Claire been present, Nel knew she'd have (rightfully) earned herself a scolding. Now, how to try and undo a little of the damage...? 

"I don't think you're looking at this the right way," Nel began. "You do realize that I've been training since I was a child?" 

"Since you were a child?" 

"That's right. You told me... that you studied... er, sciences, correct? I'm quite certain that your knowledge of science is far greater than mine in those areas. So should I feel ashamed for not knowing what you know?" 

Sophia waved her hands in protest. "No, no! Of course not..." 

"So the opposite should apply as well, right?" 

"I guess so..." 

"Exactly. That's the whole point of this, right? To get some practice in before Fayt joins us? So now that I'm sure that my shoulder injury is fully healed, we can work on improving your technique, right?" 

Sophia nodded hesitantly. "I guess so." 

"Exactly. And for the record, you did quite well back there. When faced with an incoming attack, instead of panicking like most people would, you evaded and counter-attacked. You should be proud of yourself for doing that." 

"Er... really?" 

"Absolutely," Nel affirmed, walking around so that she was standing behind Sophia. "Now... let us see if we can't teach you a few techniques. This program can simulate Runology, correct? Can it do more complex spells?" 

"I think so. Fayt only showed me how to create those energy blasts, though." 

"Could you show me how you create those energy blasts with your wand?" 

Sophia obligingly waved her wand in the appropriate pattern in front of her, at which point a ball of white energy streaked outwards and splashed harmlessly against the far side of the fighting area. 

"Again." 

Sophia repeated the motions, sending another ball of energy on its way. 

"I see," Nel mused, unable to keep a hint of surprise out of her voice. "You're moving your wand in a pattern that would be conducive to sending out a small blast of unfocussed runological energy. At least, it would if you _had_ Runological powers. Really, this Battle Simulator is quite incredible..." 

"You mean, it's a real technique?" Sophia interpreted, looking surprised. 

"Not a very efficient one, but still a technique," Nel affirmed. "And if I didn't know better, the simulator is even duplicating the runological fluctuations that would be present if you were a real caster. But if this simulator can detect _that_... does that mean it can duplicate more advanced spells?" 

"I... don't know." 

"Then let's find out." 

Reaching around, Nel grasped the girl's forearm, and felt the younger girl obligingly let her arm go limp. Moving the arm in a more complex pattern, Nel was gratified to see a belch of flame blast outwards from the end of the wand, scouring the far wall with a simulated burn mark. 

"_WOW!_" 

"That was a basic fire pattern," Nel agreed calmly. "It appears that this simulator can recognize Runological patterns and create the proper spell." 

"That was a _real_ spell!" 

"That's right. This Battle Simulator appears to be providing the base power, but you _are_ using proper spell-casting patterns." 

Sophia turned to look at Nel, eyes now sparkling with excitement. "Can you teach _me_ how to do that?"

* * *

"Lightning!" 

slicesliceslicethud 

Nel nodded in satisfaction as she touched down on the ground again. Several paces away, the beheaded monster fell to the ground in a heap, fading into nothingness several seconds later. One thing to be said about this 'Battle Simulator' - it was a lot cleaner than a real battle. 

Even more impressive was the game's attention to detail. Not only could it detect when Sophia was executing the proper runological patterns, it actually went so far as to simulate the flow of runological power that accompanied the spell. It was fainter than it should be, but the lines of force were definitely present. Sophia hadn't mentioned seeing it, but according to the outsiders, the ability to see the flows was something unique to those on Elicoor II. 

Quite remarkable, this Battle Simulator creating something that Nel could see, but Sophia couldn't... 

"Fireballs!" 

Nodding in approval, Nel watched Sophia finish incinerating the last monster with a well-executed fire spell. She was somewhat slow on the execution of the spell motions, but what she lacked in speed, she seemed to be making up for in accuracy. And she was extremely conscientious about calling out her spells, which was a necessary procedure any time spells were used in a team setting (Fayt and Cliff's hearing had quickly improved after their first two near-misses). If Nel hadn't already revised her opinions on the younger girl's intelligence and aptitude, she would _definitely_ be doing so now. 

Case in point - she _hadn't_ taught Sophia how to make one spell shoot three balls of fire at the same time. But the girl had taken the basic pattern, and - after one false start - flawlessly linked it three times in a row. In Nel's eyes, that wasn't the mark of genius, that was the makings of a _prodigy_. 

Not to exaggerate the matter, but if Sophia had been an Elicoorian born in Aquaria, Nel couldn't help but imagine that Castle Airyglyph would have been reduced to a smoking pile of rubble the same week the war began. 

"We did it!" Sophia was cheering. "Did I do okay?" 

"You did very well." 

"I think I'm really getting the hang of this spell-casting." 

"You certainly are," Nel understated, giving a teasing look, "You're certain you've never done this before?" 

Sophia pinkened. "Never. But once you taught me those patterns - they're just like the symbological force conversion patterns that modern symbological theory uses to create other kinds of energy. So it's like I already knew them, I'm just _using_ them now." 

Maybe she could introduce her to Elena, Nel mused, imagining the possibilities. "Well, I think I can safely say that no student of Runology has _ever_ executed a triple-fireball spell on their first day of training. You _clearly_ have some undiscovered talents in the area of Runology." 

"I wouldn't say that-" 

"And if you're going to deny it, you could at least provide some evidence." 

Sophia opened her mouth, but was clearly at a loss to supply anything. "..." 

"Exactly," Nel agreed, favouring the younger girl with a smile. For a moment, she was reminded of her younger days, back when Claire would occasionally blackmail or shame her into helping train the new recruits. "You _are_ learning exceptionally quickly. I understand this is only a simulation, but trust me when I say that I've _never_ seen someone pick up the fundamentals at the speed you are." 

"Oh. Um, thanks." 

"You're quite welcome. Are you feeling a little tired?" 

"A little," Sophia admitted, but she was smiling again. "I can't believe I'm actually doing _real_ Symbology! I mean, I know it's a simulation, but you said that I'm doing all the stuff that real spell-caster would do... this is incredible." 

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." 

"Oh, I _am_! I wish I could cast spells like that in real life too. I guess you can cast spells, right?" 

"Of course." 

"So why haven't you? I mean, I guess you haven't really needed to..." 

"It's not that," Nel objected, although there was some truth to the statement. "I wasn't sure whether using real Runology would be a good idea here. I don't quite understand how this battle simulator handles fake runology, but I assume it does so... somehow. But I thought that it might be different with real spells..." 

"Well, why don't we check? Computer?" 

_"Working."_

"Can this battle simulator handle real Symbology?" 

_"Affirmative. This holodeck is capable of absorbing and adapting to real manifestations of symbological energy, while keeping the participants safe from harm."_

"So there's no problem," Sophia decided, looking back at Nel. "Could you show me a few real spells?" 

Nel raised an eyebrow. "I suppose so..." 

"It's just that I've never actually seen _real_ Symbology before. Even with the courses that I'm enrolled in..." 

It was hard to refuse when the asker was technically showing more interest and aptitude than the majority of her home country's own Runological corps. "Well, if the computer says it's okay, I don't mind demonstrating..." 

"Great! Computer, reset match!" 

Obligingly, the battle simulator recreated the group of three Orc-like creatures that they'd been using for the last six matches. 

"I bet you can do it all by yourself, right?" Sophia guessed. 

She _could_, Nel knew. Even after increasing the difficulty level twice, this battle simulator still had a long ways to go before it started offering a challenge to half of the infamous "Double-edged Crimson Blade". But she had been concentrating on Sophia so far, and so had deliberately held back to let the trainee get as much practice as possible. 

But since Sophia was _looking_ for a demonstration... Nel allowed herself a small smile as she began to summon power. 

To the side, she was rewarded with a small gasp of surprise, no doubt caused by the sight of Nel's runes beginning to glow white. One thing for certain, Sophia's "casual" clothing was doing little to hide the runes on her chest and shoulders. 

"This is a basic fireball spell," she informed Sophia, her fingers rapidly tracing patterns through the air. "It's quick and easy to perform in the middle of combat... and requires relatively little power on the caster's part... _Fire bolt!_" 

Instantly, a huge ball of liquid heat blasted out from her open palm, rocketing across the arena and completely incinerating the Orc in the middle. 

"WOW!" 

Nel glanced over at Sophia, whose eyes were bigger than should have been physically possible. She was rubbing her arms gingerly, which were slightly pink, no doubt courtesy of being a little too close to the fireball's blast. "I apologize, I should have warned you about the heat." 

"Was that the same spell I was doing!" she asked incredulously, obviously considering her lightly singed arms to be of secondary import. 

"Yes, although I was clearly putting more power behind the spell than this battle simulator does," Nel pointed out. 

Sophia nodded vehemently. "And that's a _basic_ spell!" 

Nel glanced over to where the surviving two Orc's were advancing towards her. Apparently, burning their comrade to a crisp was enough to signify the start of the battle. So be it... 

"By combat standards, yes," Nel agreed. "You were using these two spells as well... _Lightning Blast! Ice Needles!_"   
In mere seconds, the first Orc was spasming helplessly on the ground, while a barrage of giant icicles had fatally impaled the second. 

"And those are just like the spells I was doing?" 

"That's right." 

"You're _fast_ at them!" 

"You have to remember," Nel pointed out, "that these are _combat_ spells. In the middle of a battle, it's absolutely essential to be able to cast these with as much speed and power as possible. It could very well mean the difference between living or dying. And I can assure you, I've been put to the test plenty of times." 

Sophia nodded, more somberly. "I never thought of it that way, but I guess you're right. And these 'basic' spells are a lot faster to cast than more complex ones?" 

"Somewhat. The biggest difference is in how much power I feed into the spell. Basic spells begin to destabilize if you try to make them handle too much power, which is where more advanced spells come into play." 

"I see. Do you know advanced spells?" 

"A few. Beyond basic spells, my primary focus is lightning-based Runology." 

"So... what does an advanced lightning spell look like?" Sophia inquired, trying to keep her expression neutral (and failing miserably). 

Nel smiled wryly. "Yes, I can demonstrate, if you like." 

"Really? You don't mind?" 

"Not at all. But you might want to take a few steps back, first." 

Sophia quickly obeyed, clasping her hands together expectantly. "Is here okay?" 

"That should be fine," Nel approved, turning her full attention back to the earlier target of the lightning spell. Once again demonstrating the realism and attention to detail possessed by the Battle Simulation, the Orc was slowly beginning to regain the use of its limbs. 

Not quickly enough, however. 

Planting her feet firmly on the ground, Nel began to trace a larger, more complex pattern in the air before her. At the same time, the runes across her body began to flare brightly, evidence of a far greater level of power than she had been using earlier. 

Out of the corner of her vision, she could see Sophia watching with rapt attention, having apparently managed to override her blinking reflexes. Well, if it was a show the girl was looking for... 

_"Lightning Strike!"_

* * *

"I hope you two are satisfied with yourselves." 

"It's all my fault! I'm soooo sorry..." 

"No, the blame falls to me." 

Maria placed one hand on her forehead, as though staving off a migraine. "You blew out six nearby power junctions, several dozen amenities, and countless lighting arrays. And completely burned out the holodeck itself." 

Sophia winced, looking shamefaced. "I'm really sorry. It's just, I'd never seen real Symbology before, and Nel didn't mind showing me..." 

Standing next to her, Nel was looking even guiltier. "I hadn't realized how badly the holodeck would react to my Runology. But Sophia was just a spectator - I accept full responsibility for this incident." 

Maria shook her head, briefly muttering something uncomplimentary about martyrs and where they should be relocated. "-and while you were guests on someone else's ship? I realize that neither of you are diplomats by trade, but really... _combat spells?_" 

"Ah, don't be so hard on 'em, Boss," Cliff interjected. The Klausian's expression indicated that he wasn't the least bit upset, and was probably trying his best not to laugh out loud. "Even the ship's computer told them it was okay to go ahead, right? And how could Nel have known that electronics and lightning don't mix? And how could Sophia have expected a planet like Elicoor II to have such powerful Symbology?" 

"That's beside the point," Maria insisted, briefly redirecting her glare. "The fact still remains that they shouldn't have-" 

"I don't want to interrupt anything, but..." Standing in the open doorway, Commodore Wittcomb was looking at the scene with a small amount of interest. "I just received the preliminary report from my Engineering staff, who managed to download the holodeck's passive sensor reports before they were destroyed." 

"Commodore," Maria greeted. "I'm sorry about all this-" 

"It was my fault," Nel interjected, taking a quick step forwards to face the man who's ship she had managed to damage. 

The Commodore raised an eyebrow. "You are the responsible party? My engineers are rather curious - and a little desperate - to know how you managed to smuggle a device capable of such a voltage spike aboard my ship without us knowing about it." 

A blank look. "Er... a 'voltage spike'?" 

"A voltage spike," Wittcomb agreed. "A sustained three-second, 250 million volt power spike, if our sensors are to be trusted." 

Cliff whistled in admiration. "_Daaaaamn_. No wonder Crosell jumped so high..." 

"And it goes without saying that such devices are explicitly prohibited by UPF laws." 

Nel swallowed, rising a glance sideways. It wasn't that she wasn't willing to take responsibility, but she _would_ like to actually understand what she was guilty of in the first place. "Er, Maria? What are-" 

Maria sighed. "With all due respect, Commodore, I think we had best start from the beginning. Cliff and I were telling you about her before, but I don't think I've had the chance to formally introduce you to Nel." 

There was a brief pause as the Commodore looked at her again, now looking rather surprised. "So... _you_ would be our guest from Elicoor II?" 

Nel nodded, offering a polite bow of her head. "Nel Zelpher. And I _am_ sorry about... damaging your holodeck." 

"I think we can consider that to be water under the bridge," he assured her. "No combat-critical systems were damaged, and this ship has several holodecks still operational, so we'll manage quite fine. But how exactly _did_ you manage to create such a voltage spike in the first place?" 

Nel shook her head. "I'm not quite certain what a 'voltage spike' is, but I was casting a lightning spell, and suddenly everything seemed to... go dark. Sophia and I tried asking the computer what had happened, but we received no answer. And then Maria arrived and brought us here." 

"Elicoor II is an underdeveloped planet," Maria noted, "but we've had ample opportunity to see that they possess a strangely advanced level of symbological knowledge. That voltage spike was created entirely by Nel's own symbological powers, as unbelievable as that may sound." 

The Commodore's expression had gone from 'curious' to 'stunned' at Maria's explanation, but he recovered quickly. "I _see_. Maria, Cliff, regarding what we were discussing earlier... I'm beginning to think that perhaps there _is_ some merit to it." 

Maria nodded, looking over at Nel. "To make a long story short, Nel, we've received news that the situation on Moonbase is... potentially dangerous. This ship - the Aquaelie - is presently not crewed for an infiltration mission, so I've volunteered Quark's services in that department. Especially since Fayt and myself have a vested interest in whatever might lie there. Hopefully, we won't have any trouble. But if things _do_ get dangerous, the likely source of our problems tends to react badly to lightning." 

Nel looked incredulously between Maria and the Commodore. "You mean..." 

"You're under no obligation," Commodore Wittcomb stressed. "But the way things are shaping up, this mission is appearing more and more critical. Something out there is calling itself 'The Creator' and is trying to destroy everything, which includes your own world. What we're after right now may quite possibly give us a way to fight back. To be honest, we don't see any other option." 

"I'd be honoured to assist in any way possible," Nel assured him. "I owe you people a great debt, and on behalf of my people, I'd be happy to help in any way possible." 

"Good to have you along," Cliff voiced. "You might want get back into combat scrubs, though, huh?" 

Amazingly enough, Nel had almost managed to forget what she had been wearing since this morning. Chalk it up to an abundance of distractions, more than likely. "About that-" 

"Looking damn fine, though-_oof!_" 

"I can't take you anywhere, can I?" Maria muttered, withdrawing her elbow from Cliff's stomach. "Is there a problem, Nel?" 

"Um, Maria," Sophia spoke up, "I think you destroyed Nel's clothing in the laundry. You're supposed to warn the laundry processors when you're giving them organic fabrics." 

"Organic...? Ah. I see." Maria had the grace to look a little embarrassed. "I'll remember that for next time. Commodore, I hate to impose further, but..." 

"-Nel's current wardrobe is clearly unsuited to combat," he agreed. "Not to worry. My ship has tailoring facilities on-board, so it shouldn't be any trouble. And I think some body armour for all you might be in order. My ship _does_ have some equipment which I'd be happy to loan out to you and your people..." 

Cliff waved the offer aside. "Ah, me and the Boss'll be okay, I think. Just worry about Nel and Fayt." 

The Commodore raised an eyebrow. "Are you certain? No offense, but I would hate to see you venturing in unprotected- 

Maria coughed delicately. "It's not that. Cliff and I... are already wearing armour, that's all. Exceptionally good armour, in fact." 

"The best the UFP has to offer," Cliff agreed, grinning shamelessly. "Do you handle warranty concerns?" 

Wittcomb looked confused for a moment, but then smiled. "Somehow, I'm not surprised. But I'm afraid you'll have to show me proof of purchase." 

"Damn, always a catch." 

"_Anyway_," Maria pressed on, giving the Klausian a glare. "Clearly Fayt and Nel will need some protection, so we'll take you up on your offer. Actually, if you could also spare a blaster with a little more power... My own is a little too compact and discrete for the present circumstances, I think." 

"I can imagine. I'd be happy to lend you out something more capable for this mission." 

Maria looked hopeful. "I don't suppose that you've received any shipments of the new AW-9 pulse gun?" 

"Yeah," Cliff added, "you wouldn't believe how hard it is to locate an isolated, insecure shipment-ouch!" 

"We do our best," Wittcomb assured him, unable to keep a look on amusement off his face. "We expect to arrive at Moonbase in several hours, so you can relax a little for the time being. Has Fayt woken up yet?" 

"Oh no!" Sophia exclaimed, finally speaking again. "I was so caught up in- I forgot about him! I'll go wake him up right now!" 

Wittcomb nodded as she rushed out the door, heading for Fayt's quarters. "Maria, is there anything else you foresee the mission requiring?" 

Maria shook her head. "Cliff and I will be reviewing the Moonbase schematics and see what we're up against. The others can join us once they're properly fitted." 

"That sounds like a plan. In that case, Ms. Zelpher, why don't I escort you to our tailoring facilities and we can see to getting you fitted?"

* * *

Nel wasn't sure how to properly start a conversation with the man who's spaceship she had damaged, so she settled for falling into step beside the Commodore. 

If nothing else, she could recognize prime command material when she saw it. The relaxed, friendly, yet calculating demeanor was more than a little similar to people like Claire or Woltar. People who didn't obsess mindlessly about combat, but were more than capable of handling affairs when they turned hostile. 

"I'm sorry for not recognizing you at first," the Commodore was saying. "Things were rather stressed when you first came on board, and your present attire is quite inconspicuous in comparison." 

"I was fortunate that Sophia had some clothing to lend me," Nel agreed, rather happy to hear that her clothing warranted the label of 'inconspicuous'. Not that she had believed Sophia to be lying, she had simply been... skeptical. 

"So," the Commodore began, "How have you been getting along so far?" 

"Quite well," Nel assured him. "People have been exceptionally helpful, in fact. And your ship's accommodations have been excellent." 

"I'm glad to hear that. And don't worry too much about the holodeck damage. Like I mentioned before, no one was hurt, nothing important was damaged, and this ship has others in the meantime. And I admit it probably would have taken a demonstration to convince me." 

"Convince you?" 

He nodded. "When Maria and Cliff told me that they believed you - from an underdeveloped planet - could be a valuable asset on this mission, I was more than a little skeptical. Even when they tried to explain your symbological powers, I had my doubts." 

"Sophia said that rune- I mean, symbological powers are rather rare?" 

"Very," Wittcomb agreed. "In the world of modern combat, Symbology is considered to be, at best, a second-rate concern. It simply lacks the power and flexibility that modern weaponry possesses. But suffice to say, you going to make more than a few people reevaluate that opinion, myself included. I assume that you're not the only one of your people with such abilities?" 

"Not at all. A great many people in my country have such powers." 

"And the strength of your abilities?" 

Nel shrugged. "I _am_ fairly talented, but my area of expertise is somewhat more grounded in weaponry. Normally, I use my magic to supplement my fighting skills." 

"Is that so? I'm almost afraid to ask what a dedicated Symbology user would be capable of." 

Claire's father sprang immediately to Nel's mind. For all Adray's bluster and antics, the man was definitely a lethal person to have for an opponent. "Quite a bit more than I could do," she assured him. 

"No doubt. At any rate, I suppose you would probably appreciate a better explanation about what you're getting into?" 

"If possible," Nel admitted. "I understand that there are laws prohibiting the disclosure of certain information to people like myself..." 

"We discussed that earlier," the Commodore assured her. "We have a law known as the Underdeveloped Planet Preservation Pact, or as we often call it, the UP3. It states that we're not permitted to make contact with planets such as your own, least we radically influence their development. There are countless examples of such contact resulting in... unfortunate results." 

"I understand that much," Nel agreed. "My presence here is also in violation of that law, correct?" 

He nodded solemnly. "To say nothing of Maria actually going so far as to teach you about many things. But as I said, I discussed the issue with Maria and Cliff. And we've come to a satisfactory decision regarding your presence." 

"And?" 

"The law makes exceptions and clarifications to account for... unusual situations. For starters, crashing on your planet was beyond their control, since their craft was heavily damaged in combat. Additionally, their lives were threatened if they didn't share their advanced knowledge." 

Nel tried to keep her facial expression neutral. It wasn't easy, considering that she'd done her own share of threatening early on. 

"And of course, the Vendeeni appeared later on, forcing them to take more drastic measures. And even then, they quickly acted to stop the Vendeeni, and they disclosed a minimum of knowledge to your people in the process. So I think that no punishment need apply to them." 

"I'm glad to hear that," Nel agreed. "But what about myself?" 

"Your world is what is sometimes termed as a 'Contaminated World'. Put simply, it means that your planet's development has been radically altered, beyond repair." 

"Which means...?" 

"In other words, the damage has already been done. The common approach is to simply withdraw and hope that things work out, and learn from the mistake. As I understand it, you were at the forefront of most of this, making you the most affected by the recent events. And you were drawn into our affairs in such a fashion that you were taken off the planet." 

"For medical aid," Nel agreed. 

"Maria and Cliff have argued - and I'm inclined to agree - that without your presence, things could have easily been catastrophic. Firstly, Cliff or Fayt could have been tortured into revealing far more information - or possibly even killed - but you rescued them. Secondly, when the Vendeeni first arrived to capture Fayt, you went so far as to help provide them with a means to resist. Thirdly, when the Vendeeni attempted to capture your 'Sacred Orb', an incredibly powerful object even by our standards, you assisted the group in stopping the attempt. And lastly, during the uneven standoff between the Vendeeni commander and Quark, you broke the stalemate, almost at the cost of your own life. And considering how badly things were looking for our side, you quite likely saved both Fayt and Maria from being captured or killed. 

"I never quite looked at it that way." 

"It's all a matter of perspective," Wittcomb assured her. "It's a fact that we - meaning _everyone_ - are facing an unprecedented threat from an unknown source calling itself 'The Creator'. We know very little at this time, but there is a distinct possibility that Fayt and Maria represent our last chance at survival. And without your help at various times, we would almost certainly be lacking that chance right now. So I think you can understand that we're inclined to be a little lenient in your particular case." 

"I see... I hadn't realized that Fayt and Maria possessed such... power." 

"We don't know for certain. It may not be a matter of raw power, but a matter of being able to apply it in a previously unknown fashion. But I'm not exaggerating when I stress their importance right now." 

Nel nodded slowly, working the sudden influx of information around in her head. "Then... you mentioned that this 'Moonbase' could be dangerous? Is it wise to allow them to venture into a hostile territory?" 

He nodded approvingly. "You definitely have a military mindset. Yes, it could be quite dangerous. But our options are limited at the moment. And we're hoping that their presence will result in us finding some information that we haven't located yet. But yes, it's imperative that they not come to harm, which is why I can at least supply equipment, even if I don't have men to send with them. And it's why we're asking for your assistance right now." 

Things seemed a little clearer to Nel at this point. She was being asked to help with bodyguard duties for Maria and Fayt. "I still don't think I understand exactly _how_ I can help, though. Maria was saying something about my lightning magic?" 

"That's right. How to explain... are you familiar with robots?" 

Nel shook her head. "I'm afraid not." 

"They're... computerized machines." 

"Maria has told me a little about computers... and I'm familiar with some machines." 

"Machines controlled by computers," Wittcomb allowed. "We often use them for security purposes, since they can do much of what a person can do, and there is no loss of life if they are destroyed." 

To Nel, 'robots' sounded a little like the ancient machines from the kingdom of Greeton. Little surprise that such devices were in use here. "I see. Quite useful, I imagine." 

"They are. Moonbase uses a contingent of security robots to assist in defending against any invading forces, should the occasion ever arise. Unfortunately, with the recent turmoil, the central computer that oversees the robots has... malfunctioned. I'm receiving reports that the computer has begun attacking both friend and foe indiscriminately." 

"Which would include us?" 

"Exactly. They're not invincible, but they _are_ extremely difficult to destroy. But the computers that control the robots are vulnerable to strong electrical forces, assuming that you can get past their shielding. But considering that what you just finished doing to the systems of my ship, I'm willing to bet that a few security robots would be child's play in comparison." 

"I see. In that case, I will certainly do my best." 

"I'm glad to hear that. And I have no intention of sending you into a potentially hostile situation without as much protection as I can give you." 

"Yes, you mentioned that..." 

"What I'm about to order is something that is technically forbidden by the UP3. But as I explained, I'm inclined to believe that we owe you a great deal. And on such an important mission, it only makes good sense to equip you with the best I have at my disposal. Now, I didn't hear the whole story, but it appears that your original clothing was entirely organic?" 

"Except for the chain mail, yes. Sophia said that you use 'synthetic' fabrics now?" 

"Exactly. And we have a wide variety of such fabrics. The clothing you're wearing right now is doubtlessly optimized for comfort. But we also have synthetics designed for durability and protection as well. And I'm going to request that your new clothing be fashioned out of such materials." 

Nel raised an eyebrow. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but is that permissible under your laws?" 

"Not in the least," the Commodore assured her, giving her an amused smile. "But, since I have a vested interest in keeping you safe and operational during this mission, I'm going to bet that if we use material that's advanced enough, your people will be completely unable to duplicate it, thus eliminating the potential problem." 

Nel's other eyebrow rose as well. "That is certainly a... novel approach. Are you sure it will work?" 

"It should be at least several centuries before your people are even able to analyze the composition of the fabric. And several more before they discover the methods used to manufacture it. Or do you think otherwise?" 

Nel shook her head. "Actually, I was referring to you. Are you sure you won't get in trouble for doing this? Perhaps I could return the clothing after this mission is done? Rather than risk any repercussions?" 

The Commodore waved her concerns aside. "Trust me, I'll handle the paperwork on my end. Think of it as a souvenir, if you like. You strike me as a person who can appreciate a good set of armour. And if you're going to visit another world, you might as well bring back something good to show for it, right?"

* * *

One hour later, heading back to meet with the others, Nel was walking on air. 

Not literally, of course. But The Smile was present, again. 

It was the same smile that had been cropping up with disturbing regularity, ever since she'd found herself displaced from her home world. It was a smile that belonged on a giddy, mindless flower girl, not one of the Queen's most-trusted warriors. It was a smile that was going to ruin her reputation if she didn't get it under control. 

This time, The Smile was in reaction to her new clothing, if such a mundane word as 'clothing' even applied anymore. But everyone else called it 'clothing', and her vocabulary lacked anything better, so she would call it clothing - very special clothing. 

Nel hadn't entirely understood Commodore Wittcomb's orders - something involving the phrases 'blank check', 'I'll clear it', and 'one for the record books' - but the tailor had clearly been given permission to make some very good clothing for her. 

The lack of blueprints had been solved by using 'security cameras', which were apparently devices that could display past events on computer monitor screens... such as Nel arriving on the spaceship (and gaping at everything), Nel walking down a corridor (frantically looking for a chamber pot), Nel sitting down to lunch with Maria (and refusing to believe that people willingly drank 'coffee')... It was the sort of thing that anyone in charge of kingdom security (i.e. Nel) was guaranteed to turn green with envy over. 

Once the tailor had obtained enough images of her in her original clothing, he had set to work recreating the same uniform - except with new materials. And after learning that Nel's idea of a 'normal' uniform included about sixty pounds of chain mail and steel plate, the tailor had quickly stopped fretting over issues such as 'weight' or 'comfort'. 

Nel didn't know what the fabric was, but a single layer was apparently far superior to any armour plating her own world could boast of, and was up to ten layers thick over vital areas. Her leggings and gloves were more of the same, except they had somehow been made stretchy, to avoid any loose fabric tripping her up in mid-maneuver. Steel and iron were apparently long obsolete as well, since her arm bracers, boots, and breastplate were now lined with 'ceramic composites', and could be expected to successfully block anything short of an attack by a celestial ship. Yet the entire outfit weighed less than her old uniform. 

And if that wasn't enough, the clothing came with a bonus. It was all layered, with a heavy, no-nonsense outer shell for serious situations, and a lighter, casual-looking inner liner. Which meant that the next time Claire blackmailed her into attending a royal ball in a dress instead of a duty uniform, she was going to attend wearing a demure, maidenly gown, combined with delicate forearm gloves and leggings, and still be better armoured than any soldier in the entire castle. 

And _that_ was causing Nel to smile so much it practically hurt, even as she reluctantly tapped the button to make the door to the meeting room open. She was smiling like an idiot, was probably stuck facing her friends like this, and there was nothing she could do about it. Because she knew that _nothing_ was about to change her facial expression- 

"_Fire-_" 

-except seeing Sophia halfway through casting a fireball spell point-blank into Fayt's face. 

"Eeeep!" That was Sophia's approximate reaction to suddenly finding her arms yanked upwards, and Fayt's expression of interest replaced by Nel's expression of disbelief. 

There was a moment of stunned silence in the room as Fayt, Maria and Cliff all tried to make sense of Nel's surprise entrance. 

"Hi Nel," Cliff finally greeted. "Nice threads." 

"Um, Nel?" Sophia began worriedly. 

"You were casting a fireball spell!" Nel exclaimed. 

"Well, yes-" 

"Directly at Fayt!" 

Sophia gaped, along with the rest of the room's occupants. 

Nel exhaled, finally releasing Sophia's arms and stepping aside. "Sophia, I understand that this holodeck will... protect people from being hurt, but I still don't think you should be putting it to the test like _that_." 

Another moment of stunned silence echoed throughout the room. 

It was Fayt who finally broke the silence. "Um, we're not on the holodeck, Nel." 

Nel blinked. "We're not?" 

"No, we broke it," Sophia added. "Remember?" 

"But the Commodore said that there were several holodecks on this spaceship..." 

"But this isn't one of them," Fayt assured her. 

"I guess you saw my hand motions," Sophia guessed, "and assumed that I was playing on the battle simulator, right?" 

"Well, yes, but-" 

"That's okay. It's an honest mistake. But I'm just doing the motions, that's all. There's no power behind it, right?" 

Nel's face scrunched up in confusion. 

"_Anyway_," Maria interrupted, shifting position so that she was addressing the room at large. "If I could have everyone's attention? We'll be arriving at Moonbase within the hour, so I hope we're all ready. Our mission is to find something in the Leingod Research Facility that hasn't been found yet. Hopefully, Fayt's presence and mine will make the difference. 

"The bigger problem is likely going to involve getting there. A transporter jammer protects the facility itself, so we'll be using a shuttle to enter via the nearest working shuttle bay. Depending on how close we can get, and the condition of the station infrastructure, we could have several kilometers of station to traverse in the process. As you're probably aware, the station's security system is presently shooting at anything that moves, friendly or not. If we're lucky, we can just avoid them altogether. If not... we fight our way there. Which is why Commodore Wittcomb has authorized the use of the Aquaelie's equipment. Including _these_." 

Holding up a non-descript ball slightly larger than her fist, Maria allowed everyone to see it. "These are military-spec EM bombs, which we're hoping are strong enough to disable the security robots. Fayt, you and I will be carrying as many of these as we can manage. Nel and Cliff, carry what you can without interfering with your movement, and Fayt and I will resupply you as needed. We're not sure how effective they'll prove against military-grade hardware, but we'll give them a try. If they prove... ineffective, that's where _you_ come in, Nel." 

"My lightning Runology?" Nel inquired. 

"Exactly. If necessary, you'll want to be using your most powerful spells from the outset. We don't know how many obstacles will be present, so we can't afford to have you exhaust your abilities prematurely. Hopefully these EM bombs will do most of the work. Regardless, our own safety is paramount, and we all need to exercise the utmost in caution the whole time. We may be wearing armour, but that's no reason to put it to the test. Is that understood?" 

All the occupants nodded affirmative. 

"Good," Maria approved. "Then until we arrive, everyone at ease." 

Cliff sidled over to Nel, who had regained her earlier expression, and was once again staring confusedly at Sophia. For her part, the girl was engaged in a hushed conversation with Fayt. 

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked Nel. 

"I'm fine." 

"Then what's bugging you? You're not still hung up on that fireball thing, are you?" 

Nel frowned at him. "We're _not_ on the holodeck? You're certain?" 

The Klausian shrugged. "Yeah, I'm sure. This is just a meeting room, that's all. Why?" 

"Because she was casting a fireball spell before." 

"Yeah, you were saying that. But just waving your hands in the air doesn't mean-" 

Nel cut him off, lowering her voice to a whisper. "I know _that_! It doesn't matter what her hand were doing, I could _see_ the spell forming!" 

"You could see it?" 

"Yes!" 

By this point, Maria had picked up on the hushed conversation. "Something wrong?" 

Cliff shrugged. "She says that she saw Sophia casting a fireball spell." 

"I did!" Nel insisted. "It wasn't very powerful, but she was definitely forming the spell. I thought it was just the holodeck duplicating the Runological fluctuations..." 

Maria frowned. "I remember you mentioned that you Elicoorians can actually see Symbological fluctuations..." 

"That's right," Nel agreed. "I could see the fluctuations on the holodeck, but Sophia couldn't. Which is only natural expected, right? Since she couldn't normally see them in reality?" 

"I'm never tried using Symbology in a battle simulator," Maria admitted. "But I wouldn't be surprised to know that it can duplicate the effects of some symbological spells. But mimicking the energy fluctuations behind the spells as well? We've never even had devices that could properly see them, so how would we know what to program the simulator to duplicate?" 

Nel shrugged. "I don't know." 

"Besides," Cliff interjected. "I've never heard of another race that could see like you can. What would be the point of making the Battle Simulator simulate something that only a race from an underdeveloped planet could see?" 

Maria raised an eyebrow. "That's a good point, actually. And in addition to all that, the holodeck can't visualize something and only let one person see it. If it made something visible, either both you and Sophia should both have seen it, or neither could have." 

"I don't know," Nel repeated. "I just know what I saw before." 

"Maybe it was a trick of the light?" Cliff suggested. 

"It doesn't work like that. It's not like it's just another colour... it's... I just _see_ it, okay? And nothing else looks like it. And I _know_ I saw Runology being used on the holodeck by Sophia before. I just assumed that the holodeck was doing a good job of simulating the spells. But now you tell me that that couldn't have been?" 

"Pretty much," Cliff agreed. 

"But that means it must have been real," Nel reasoned. "But Sophia told me that she couldn't do any Runology. She only knew some basic theory from her schooling. So how could she have done it for real?" 

Maria looked genuinely mystified. "I'm afraid I don't know, Nel. Sophia is a Terran, and Terrans don't manifest Symbological powers like your people do." 

"They don't?" 

"There hasn't been a confirmed case in centuries," Maria assured her. "And even that was quite weak." 

"But you said yesterday that you're Terran, right? And you have powers? And what about Fayt?" 

Maria opened her mouth, but closed it again without saying anything. 

"Maria and Fayt are pretty unique cases," Cliff supplied helpfully. 

"Oh." 

Maria opened her mouth again, and actually managed to say something. "_Cliff_?" 

The Klausian raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah?" 

Maria inhaled deeply, then slowly exhaled again - a sure sign of someone trying to force themselves to calm down. "Sophia's... family name. What is it?" 

"Uh..." Cliff frowned, concentrating hard. "We came across her name back when we were trying to track down Fayt on Hyda IV, because she was listed as traveling with him and his family... Esteed, I think her name was. Yeah, you were saying what a funny coincidence it was for her to have that last name and be traveling with Dr. Leingod..." 

Cliff trailed off, a strange expression forming on his face. "Hey... waaait a minute, Boss. There's no way you're thinking that-" 

"Maria?" That was Sophia, cautiously approaching the group. 

"Yes?" Maria was facing slightly away from the others, but by the time she turned, her face was smiling as though she hadn't a care in the world. Her eyes clearly indicated otherwise, however. 

Sophia didn't appear to notice, apparently having her own concerns for the moment. "Fayt and I were just talking about something... and he says that it would be up to you." 

"Oh?" 

"Well, yes, you see, Fayt told me what he knows about this stuff. And I don't understand everything, but I can tell that you're hoping to find some pretty important information. Um... heavy information, I mean. And if at all possible, I'd really like to... um, be there with Fayt. If possible, I mean. For... support, you see. I know it's dangerous, but if there's any way I could maybe come along...?" 

Maria smiled again, her eyes never changing. "You'd like to come along with us?" 

Sophia nodded slowly, looking rather hesitant, but forcing herself to speak. "I know it's dangerous, and I know I can't be any help fighting. But Fayt and I have been friends for our whole lives, and things are really rough for him right now, especially with his father and all. So if there's anything I can do to help him out..." 

"You've known each other that long?" Maria asked curiously. 

"That's right," Sophia agreed. "Our parents were always really good friends, you see. And my father worked on several projects with Fayt's parents, you see." 

"Not Dr. Clive Esteed?" Maria inquired, actually managing to do a credible imitation of surprise. 

"You've heard of him?" 

"I'm familiar with some of his work, yes. Quite a brilliant man... and he's your father? I've always wished I could meet him someday." 

"I could introduce you two, I'm sure." 

Maria's smile was patently forced at this point. "I would love nothing better, believe me." 

"It's a date, then. But about what I asked..." 

"Of course. You'd like to come along with us... what does Fayt think about this?" 

"Well, he likes it, but he also knows that it could be dangerous..." 

Maria stood up. "I think that something could be arranged. But why don't we include him in the conversation?" 

Leading Sophia back towards Fayt (who was looking more than a little nervous himself), Maria left Cliff and Nel to their own devices. 

Cliff sighed, leaning against a wall. "Ah dammit. This business just gets better and better." 

Nel glanced to where Maria was now engaging Fayt and Sophia in conversation. "Is Maria okay?" 

He gave her an incredulous look. 

"That was a rhetorical question," Nel replied. "I _know_ she's not okay. This is where you tell me _why_ she's not okay. You two were both fine until I pointed out that both Maria and Fayt seem to have Runological powers. And Maria clearly knew that already, so I'm not sure what could be so shocking about me telling her that." 

"It's nothing," Cliff assured her. 

Nel glared. 

"Okay, it's not nothing," he allowed. "It's... nothing certain. Not yet, okay? And you kind of hit on a real touchy subject for her." 

"I didn't mean to do that, I was just trying to get an explanation for-" 

"I know that, and Maria knows that," Cliff agreed, waving her apology aside. "Look, just let it slide for now, okay? What are they saying right now?" 

"How would I know?" 

"Well, you eavesdrop on everyone else, I just assumed-_ouch!_ What was that for?" 

"As if you didn't know. To say nothing of your 'damn fine' comment from before." 

"That was a compliment!" 

"Hmph. If _that_ passes for a compliment where you come from..." 

"You know, I think you're just a little insecure in your-_oof!_" 

"Pig," Nel muttered, withdrawing her arm. "And don't think for a moment that you've distracted me from the issue at hand." 

Cliff smirked, but didn't deny the charge. "Can't blame me for trying, right?" 

"Cliff? Nel?" 

Both turned to face Maria, who had both Fayt and Sophia in tow behind her. To judge from the latters' expression, the conversation had resulted in a satisfactory decision on Maria's part. Which likely meant that- 

"A slight change in our plans," Maria announced. "Sophia has asked to come along on this mission, and after talking with her and Fayt, I agree. Cliff and Nel, you two will still be taking point, with me as backup. Fayt's priority will now be Sophia's safety, and we'll proceed as planned." 

"Works for me," Cliff agreed, as though taking non-combatant teenage girls on dangerous missions was the most normal thing in the world. "Hey, Fayt, why don't you go find some body armour for Sophia to wear? We're going to be in range of Moonbase soon." 

Fayt nodded, placing a hand on Sophia's shoulder. "Good point. Hey Sophia, let's go find you some equipment before we arrive." 

The other three didn't say a word until the doors had slid shut again. 

Cliff was the first to speak. "Boss, do you really think that-" 

Maria shook her head. "I don't know, Cliff. What I _do_ know is that Fayt has a habit of being heroic in a fight, and I don't feel like watching him be heroic against something equipped with machine guns or lasers. Now that he has to concentrate on his best friend's safety, he'll be more cautious, which will work in our favour. And I think Sophia can be trusted to be cautious regardless." 

"So you're letting Sophia come along just to manipulate Fayt into behaving better?" Cliff asked, sounding amused. "No other reason at all?" 

"I don't know." Maria replied, a hint of steel entering her voice. "And I'll thank you to refrain from speculating. It's just a series of coincidences and names, and there's no real proof. And we're not going to let our imaginations run wild until we know more about this business." 

"You don't really think that-" 

Maria cut him off with a snap of her hand. "Topic closed, Cliff. Consider that an order." 

Cliff nodded, looking resigned. "Gotcha, Boss." 

Maria offered a strained smile towards the room's other occupant. "Nel, I can't order you, but I _would_ appreciate it if you would keep silent about what you saw for the time being." 

Nel returned the smile, seeing it for what it was. She'd seen the same expression far too many times before - in a mirror. "I understand. There's hardly any sense in starting baseless rumours." 

"Exactly. We have a little time before arriving, so let's go find a working holodeck. It can't hurt to give you a demonstration of what sort of hostiles we might encounter." 

"I would very much appreciate that." 

"But no more Symbology for you," Cliff warned. 

"Ass." 

"And a sexy one at that." 

"Children..." Maria chided, a more genuine smile starting to creep onto her face. 

"_Yes, mommy_," Cliff replied in falsetto. "_Can we go play with the robots now?_" 

Nel was smiling too, as she followed behind them. Back when her and Claire had first had their present positions bestowed upon them, Adray had joked that they no longer had to worry about trying to get promoted. When you were in charge of protecting your land and its people, under only the Queen herself, there simply wasn't any higher position available. Or so Nel had thought. 

Though completely unexpected, it appeared that she'd managed to join the ranks of a group of people charged with trying to save all of creation. And now she was less than an hour from a critical mission, armed with her family's legendary blades, a suit of armour that Apris himself would have been hard-pressed to equal, and Runology that could just prove to be the group's wild card on this mission. 

If that wasn't a promotion, she didn't know what was.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

Erm... right. Another 'abstract scene' done on 'a whim' is now finished. This chapter got WAAAY out of hand, but I guess there's nothing for it. In fact, I think I just doubled the size of the story. It wasn't supposed to be anywhere near this long, honest. 

I haven't bothered doing this yet, but in lieu of several whoppers I've pulled out of my ass during this chapter, I feel entitled/obligated to a minor rant afterwards for anyone who cares. I was interested in trying to make a chapter focusing mainly on Nel/Sophia, but trying to think up meaningful topics that they could share was giving me some grief. Not only is Sophia frequently regulated to the role of a) acting depressed by her inabilities, b) Fayt's cheerleader, or c) insipid one-liners, her presence doesn't make a whole lot of sense at first. 

Why did she even come to the Moonbase in the first place? Nel/Albel's presence is rather strange as well (considering the UP3), but at least they're fighters. Less so for Peppita, but the game at least offers the explanation that her race, Velbaysians, are capable of bursts of extreme strength and agility, coupled with her highly praised dancing talents. 

Nothing of the sort is given for Sophia, and there are no previous hints in the game that she can actually _use_ Symbology. Yet there she is, joining the battle party on a romp through hostile territory, suddenly on her way to developing the game's most potent array of magic spells? Plot-wise it's convenient, putting her in a position to directly find out that she's got a symbol in her genes, just like Fayt and Maria. But logically, I dunno. 

At any rate, the strategy guide's brief mention of her interest in Symbology caught my interest, suggesting a possible common starting point with Nel. Upon further examination of the game's dictionary... ye gods, enrolled in Space-Time studies? Far be it for me to stereotype, but you'd never guess, would you? 

Anyway, as the size of this chapter might suggest, things _seriously_ snowballed from there (Nevermind over a dozen pages that I finally decided to omit). In a nutshell, I wanted to try my hand at making a halfway-believable reason for: a) Nel to continue with the party to Moonbase, b) Sophia to continue with the party to Moonbase, c) Sophia to start developing Symbology, and d) Nel to get equipment upgrades to let her fight against more modern opponents. Why, yes, I _do_ have bad habit of over-rationalizing the video games I play. 

Eh, enough rant. Next chapter - Peppita takes center stage!

* * *

end 


	11. Chapter 11

Points of View  
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic by Intrasonic

Disclaimer: This item of fanfiction is public domain and not intended for profit. And believe me, it isn't making any.

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Chapter 11   
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Setting: 4D Space, Eternal Sphere Gateway   
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It's a terrible thing to be told that you don't exist (not to mention confusing).

But, if Nel was interpreting recent events correctly, that was exactly what she, along with her friends, had been told. Or at the very least, their existence was less substantial than common sense would dictate.

If the entire affair was all an elaborate deception, it was an exceedingly intricate one, which had even convinced her friends from higher-technology worlds. And considering the level of power being displayed by this 'Creator' to date, a deception almost seemed redundant. Until proven otherwise, it seemed logical to assume the worst - that both they and their peoples were in imminent danger of being completely exterminated.

Which was why, at the moment, she was with her friends in a strange, circular room with walls that seemed to be made of one, continuous computer monitor screen. Except that, unlike the earlier examples that she had seen aboard spaceships, the images that these displayed were possessed of a quality so good that Nel almost found herself mistaking them for windows. Only the fact they constantly shifted and changed views clued her in to the fact they were merely pictures.

If the information they had been given by that boy - Flad was his name - was true, they were in a room that would let them travel to any of those destinations shown, and more. No one seemed to want to guess at the exact mechanics, but the results would clearly speak for themselves. At least they would, once Maria finished her work on the computer in the centre of the room. At present, the young woman was typing furiously, her eyes darting back and forth rapidly across the smaller monitor screen before her.

Everyone else, perhaps possessing a sixth sense for when someone didn't want to be disturbed, had vacated the immediate area, and occupied themselves by looking at the pictures along the wall. Fayt and Sophia were talking back and forth excitedly, apparently recognizing some of the images that were displayed, their faces cycling through various expressions of delight, solemnity, and amusement. Cliff was scrutinizing an image of a seashore, populated with what looked suspiciously like scantily clad women. For her part, the pictures all looked equally alien to Nel, although she almost thought she caught a glimpse of an image of the Kirlsa training facility...

"Whatcha looking at?" a high-pitched voice wanted to know.

Nel turned to face the newest addition to their motley crew.

"Have you found your home world yet?" Peppita Rossetti asked, balancing easily on the edge of the wall that surrounded the central area.

"Not yet," Nel replied. "You?"

"My people don't have one," the girl replied. "We're nomadic people."

"You travel all the time?"

"That's right. I'm part of a traveling circus, so we go wherever the customers are."

"That sounds like an interesting life," Nel offered. "So the others we met in Moonbase are the people you travel with?"

"Yep! What about you? Where are you from?"

"It's called Elicoor II."

"Hmm... I've never been there before. What's it like?"

"Well... it's my home, I suppose. I believe it's called an 'Underdeveloped Planet', so I don't suppose you would have even been allowed to go there."

"_Really_? You're from an underdeveloped planet?"

"That's right."

"Wow! I never even realized... how underdeveloped is it?"

Nel shrugged. "I'm not quite sure how you measure such things. I believe Maria told me that being able to travel into space is important, but we certainly haven't accomplished _that_. And we don't have these 'computers', either."

Peppita's eyes widened. "Really? You don't _seem_ primitive..."

Nel didn't bother taking offence over the 'primitive' label, having seen more than enough to make her believe it. "Thank-you, I suppose. The others have been very helpful in explaining different things to me, actually."

"So how did you join up with everybody else here?"

"It's a rather long story, actually. They crash-landed on my world, and it took some time before they could be rescued. In the meantime, I befriended these people, and ended up leaving the world with them. At that time, they decided that the situation with this 'Creator' was quite serious, and that I could be of some help to them."

"With that electricity magic?"

"That's right," Nel agreed. The 'EM bombs' had worked for most of the robots on Moonbase, but the larger ones seemed to have been better protected, forcing Nel to bring all of her lightning powers to bear. Even then, the largest robots had required two or three blasts before they finally ceased functioning. Cliff had run interference to give her better shots, but Nel hadn't missed the huge chunks of wall that had been rapidly gouged out by the robots' missed attacks. The idea of trying to assault such a device with conventional soldiers... like attacking a hurricane with scraps of paper.

"Those were pretty cool!" Peppita agreed. "I bet you could travel with our troupe for a while, you know! People would be _amazed_ to see those kind of tricks."

"Is that so?" Nel inquired, unable to keep from smiling. Magistrate Lasselle would go into conniptions if he heard that one of the kingdom's Crimson Blades had joined a band of performing nomads. "Well, if I'm ever looking for a change in job, I'll be sure to contact you."

"Great!"

By this point in Nel's life, the process of analyzing new people didn't even require conscious thought. And she'd been watching Peppita very carefully; from the moment the girl had first appeared.

A charitable soul might have called the girl 'spirited' and 'enthusiastic', but Nel preferred the terms 'reckless' and 'foolhardy'. Granted, she had _usually_ shown an appropriate degree of caution on Moonbase, leaving the serious fighting to those who were equipped and/or trained for it. But she hadn't been cautious enough to refrain from directly assaulting one of the flying robots by herself.

Which was the other side of the issue - the girl's idea of a direct assault had involved a twenty-foot vertical jump, and on the way _up_, slamming both feet into the robot hard enough to topple it. The follow-up had involved the girl vaulting onto the robot to jump even _higher_, at which point Peppita had used a combination of gravity, a push from the ceiling, and an overhead smash with her metal bangles to permanently put an end to the threat.

Peppita was a dancer, as though that explained a child being able to jump more than four times her body height and smash solid metal. Nel was hardly a performance connoisseur, but she was sure that the performing acts she had seen as a child had been somewhat more... tame.

She was also a different race, a Velbaysian, which apparently meant that she'd been born with the same reflexes and coordination that Nel had spent her whole life developing. Add a strength-to-size factor to rival Cliff's, and you had a lot of combat potential packed into the smallest member of the group. If it weren't for the fact that the girl's race apparently possessed all the stamina of an overweight nobleman in a suit of heavy chain mail, Nel thought she might have already tried to hire the girl by now.

"Hmph. Saying that we don't exist!" Peppita was griping. "I'm going to kick this Creator's butt so hard his kids will feel it!"

"My sentiments exactly," Nel agreed dryly. "I'm not even quite sure _how_ I don't exist."

"Right! If we didn't exist, we'd know it!" Peppita decided. "Or... I mean, how could we even _think_ we existed if we didn't?"

"I was never much for philosophy," Nel admitted, "but that seems reasonable."

"I sure hope Maria is done soon..."

"I'm sure she's working as fast as she can-"

"I'm done," Maria abruptly announced, standing up from the computer and turning to address the group. "All of our parameters should be inputted into the system, letting us use this 'Eternal Sphere'. Now we can see if this system is everything that Flad claimed it was."

There was a brief pause as the others digested the statement.

Maria gave them all a smile. "Would anyone care to suggest a destination?"

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"What do you think, Nel?"

Nel scrutinized the area they had found themselves transported to, easily recognizable as the Aire Hills, not far from the town of Kirlsa. From the jagged mountain peaks to the North, to the somewhat smoother mountains to the South, to the faded burn and blood marks scattered randomly across everywhere in-between...

"It looks real to me," she offered.

Maria took the statement at face value. "So there's nothing out of place on the Eternal Sphere's Elicoor II. So far, at least."

"We'll have to see what we find in the towns," Fayt decided. "If this is a simulation, there's no way they could possibly simulate _everyone_ on Elicoor II properly."

"Especially once Nel talks with her friends," Sophia agreed. "She can ask them secret things, right? No simulation could know _those_ kind of things."

"And if we're lucky," Maria added, flipping open her communicator and tapping a few keys, "we can talk to a few friends of our own. This should be able to put out a strong enough signal if they're still in orbit... Diplo, do you copy?"

A few moments of silence, followed by a brief hiss of static. _"Identify yourself,"_ a familiar female voice replied.

"This is Maria, Mirage."

Another period of silence ensued, before Mirage replied. _"I'm going to have to ask you to prove your identity. Considering that your signal is originating from the surface of Elicoor II, instead of where you're _supposed _to be right now."_

"For the time being, I'm going to call it a trans-dimensional transport," Maria replied. "We're still investigating the exact nature of this business. And right now, we're trying to ascertain that we are, in fact, in our real universe."

_"Well, I can assure you that you're in _my _universe,"_ Mirage replied. _"And you still haven't proved that you're who you say you are."_

"Always by the book," Cliff noted with a resigned sigh.

Maria held out the open communicator before the group. "Everybody identify yourselves in full for Mirage."

"Fayt Leingod."  
"Sophia Esteed."   
"The Amazing Cliff Fittir."  
"Peppita Rossetti!"  
"Nel Zelpher."  
"And Maria Traydor, of course. Happy now?" Maria inquired.

_"So you know some names, and can do a reasonable facsimile of their voices. Would _you _be happy with that?"_ Mirage inquired pointedly. _"And I'm not asking this for trivial reasons, I might add."_

Maria frowned, but didn't dispute the question. "So we need something that an impostor couldn't possibly know..." She brightened. "I could recite your win-loss-tie record for sparring matches against Cliff-"

"Whoa there!" Cliff interrupted hastily. "No need to be so drastic, boss."

Maria smirked knowingly. "You have something better?"

"Of course." Cliff leaned towards the communicator. "Hey, Mirage? How about I recite a few titles of certain novels you've got stashed under your bed?"

Mirage was _very_ silent for a moment. _"How about _I _tell everybody the story about how we first met?"_

"Can't imagine what you're talking about."

_"Oh really? You mean you've forgotten how an eight-year old girl inflicted severe groin damage on a seventeen-year old punk who thought he was the hottest thing since faster-than-light travel?"_

Cliff winced. "Erg, I'd kinda repressed _that_ memory, thanks."

There were a few repressed snickers and giggles from other members of the group, but they disappeared by the time he turned to face them.

"And I _am_ the hottest thing since faster-than-light travel," the Klausian added, a grin creeping onto his face again. "Or did you forget all about a certain thirteen year-old girl who was crushing on a handsome twenty-two year-old stud, and decided she'd plant a camera in his shower stall-"

_"Marietta,"_ Mirage voice interrupted quickly, _"one antimatter torpedo, aim at the source of the communication..."_

Cliff smirked. "I dunno, Mirage... that torpedo could take up to a minute to load. And I haven't even mentioned the 'betting pool' part yet. And Maria's looking _reeeeeally_ curious..."

In fact, by this point, the entire group had given the conversation their undivided attention.

_"Cliff..."_

"Aw, what are you worried about?" he inquired, far too innocently. "If I'm not the real Cliff Fittir, there's no way I could know about you betting a big chunk of your allowance on the 'Over 25 centimetre' category-"

_"CLIFF!"_

"-and when the camera idea didn't work out, you went and-"

_"Alright, alright, I believe you. Now put Maria back on before I come down there personally."_

"Heh heh, back to you, boss."

Maria was trying hard not to laugh as well. "You realize, Mirage... that your captain is going to want an... in-depth report when this is over?"

The group could almost _hear_ Mirage's expression on the other end of the communicator. _"I'm sure that could be arranged,"_ she finally agreed. _"But the report would probably have to include an incident involving a certain fifteen-year old who stumbled across a stray issue of 'Restraint and Ordering'..."_

"Erm..." It was rather impressive how quickly Maria's face began to heat up.

_"...I believe we still have the backed-up security logs somewhere-"_

"You said that you _deleted_ those!" Maria protested, before clapping her hand over her mouth, keenly aware of some incredulous stares she was now getting. She coughed, managing to regain some of her composure, although her face remained quite red. "I mean, this entire conversation _never_ happened."

_"Well, if you're absolutely certain..."_

"Yes. Definitely. Captain's orders, in fact."

"Let that be a lesson, kids," Cliff lectured, "you can _never_ have too much blackmail over your friends and superior officers."

_"So are you quite positive that you're in your universe now?"_ Mirage teased.

"Yes. Now give me a report." A stifled laugh from one of the other group members made her turn and glare at the row of innocent-looking faces. "A _real_ report."

_"Of course. No significant change from earlier, but we've intercepted UFP communications that indicate the battleship Aquaelie was destroyed in combat thirty minutes ago, near the planet Styx. So you can understand why we were a little sceptical when we picked up your communicator on Elicoor II. But it's nice to know that you're all safe."_

"Thirty minutes ago?" Fayt blurted out. "But that happened..."

"At least six hours ago," Maria finished. "Mirage, could you give me a reading of the Diplo's internal chronometer?"

_"The date reads seven-seventy-two dash eleven dash seven, and the time reads eleven dash twenty-five dash zero,"_ Mirage recited. _"Are you saying that you have a different time?"_

"The date is fine, but my communicator thinks it's almost 1700 now."

_"That's over five hours unaccounted for?"_

"Which means that we spent over five hours that never passed here," Maria mused thoughtfully. "It appears that Dr. Leingod's theory was right - time passes differently in 4-D space than it does here. I suppose it's not unthinkable that we might have simply returned to our universe at the exact instant we left it, except in a different location."

"I'm not much on that kind of stuff," Cliff admitted, "but if we really _are_ being loaded into some kind of big game, it'd be pretty easy to make us appear at any time, right?"

"We can assume so for the time being," Maria agreed. "If this was some kind of trick, they would have been smarter to make time pass at the same rate, no matter where we were. But I think we should still take up Nel's suggestion."

Nel blinked at the mention of her name. "Huh?"

"You were saying that we could see if your symbological researchers might have some insights on our symbols?" Maria pointed out.

Nel nodded, glad to have the conversation back on more familiar ground (it had been comforting to see Fayt, Sophia, and Peppita looking almost as confused as she had been). "Well, you said that you don't have devices that can see rune-I mean, symbological fluctuations like my people can. But there are people in Aquios who can perceive them even better than I can. And my training is largely practical, whereas someone like Lady Elena is much better versed in theoretical matters..."

"Then I think we'll take you up on your offer," Maria agreed. "Mirage? Are you getting all this?"

_"Loud and clear. Did you want to walk the whole way, or would you like a transporter assist?"_

"You read my mind. Six to beam up."

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At Nel's suggestion, the group used the White Dew Garden as a transporter destination, by virtue of the fact that it was open, and likely to be unoccupied. After all, despite the recent events on Elicoor, there was still no harm in trying to avoid the general public. And as an added benefit, the group could walk directly into the throne room and discuss urgent matters with Aquaria's Queen without delay.

And the matters _were_ quite urgent, so Nel could perhaps be forgiven for not noticing the stunned expressions present on the attending royal court when she, followed by the other five members of the group, strode briskly into the throne room and presented themselves before the Queen.

"Your Majesty, I have returned," Nel greeted, kneeling before her Queen.

There was a moment of silence on the part of the court.

"Good to see you again, Your Highness," Cliff added helpfully.

"_Nel?_" the Queen inquired, with a considerable amount of disbelief.

Nel cautiously stood again. "Your Majesty?"

"You're... safe?"

As greetings went, this was somewhat unexpected. "Er, I am. Your Majesty. And yourself?"

"NEL!" That was Clair, who had likely been in the process of delivering a report, and was now in the process of crushing Nel's ribs.

"_Ack_! C-Clair!"

"Where _were_ you?" her friend demanded, only relaxing her hug slightly. "You went to inspect the training facility, and never returned! I went to search for you, and found metal pieces everywhere, with blood stains and burn marks all over the roof clearing-"

"Oops," Fayt muttered under his breath.

"Looks like somebody forgot to call in sick," Cliff agreed.

Nel finally returned Clair's embrace, but gave the Klausian a glare. "At the time, I was hardly in any shape to do so, in case you've forgotten!"

Maria coughed pointedly, stepping forwards to face the Queen. "We apologize for this interruption, Your Majesty. The last few days have been... extremely busy. And we don't expect that to change in the near future. But we would certainly be happy to provide you with a more detailed explanation."

"I would certainly appreciate one," the Queen agreed, looking the group over with a calculating eye. "You seem to have brought us some more 'Engineers from Greeton', Nel."

Nel managed a wry smile at her Queen's tone of voice. "You could say that, Your Majesty. Except this time, it's _them_ asking for _our_ knowledge."

"Yeah, we figured that we'd show Nel the _nice_ way to go about it," Cliff interjected. "I mean, not even out of prison, and she was already threatening to kill me and Fayt-"

"Better late than never," Nel warned.

"Yes, our Nel can be like that sometimes," the Queen agreed, a hint of a smile on her face.

_"Nel..."_ Clair whispered, her face angled slightly away from the main group. _"Fayt and Maria... and that girl next to Fayt..."_

"I know," Nel agreed, not bothering to lower her voice in reply. Seeing the inquisitive looks the comment had gained her, she looked back at her Queen. "Your Majesty, you may have noticed that the runological fields surrounding Fayt and Maria are different then they were before?"

"I did indeed," the Queen confirmed. "Was the explanation going to broach such matters?"

"Most definitely."

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_"Fireball!"_

Even as the massive ball of flame rocketed harmlessly skywards, the small crowd of onlookers wore suitably impressed expressions.

"As you can see," Nel was explaining, "Sophia's power levels have exceeded my own at this point."

"I see," the Queen observed appreciatively. "And at a younger age, no less. You appear to have an exceptional gift for Runology, Sophia."

Off to the side, Fayt and Peppita gave an encouraging round of applause.

Sophia flushed, only partially from the praise. To say the least, the girl was still having some difficulty coming to grips with the fact that she was actually casting spells of her very own, without the aid of a holodeck. Being told that she'd already surpassed her teacher was just the latest development.

"And without the aid of any body runes," Lady Elena added, sounding curious despite herself. Along with the Queen and Clair, Nel had quickly recommended that Elena be summoned to hear the story, promising that it would be well worth her time. Considering Nel's track record for exaggeration (very rare), the Chief Runologist had wasted no time in arriving. And thus far, she had found no cause for disappointment. "And how long have you been training, young lady?"

"Er..."

Nel's smile was of the classical and timeless 'I-know-something-you-don't' variety.

"...about three days now."

It was almost comical how fast the indulgent smile on the researcher's face faded. "Three days?"

"Um... three and a half?"

All three Aquarian women immediately directed incredulous looks towards Nel.

"I would never have believed such a thing, myself," Nel admitted, "but three days ago, Sophia barely had the faintest spark of power in her. And now..."

Elena shook her head, now looking rather stunned. "For Runological powers to develop so quickly..."

The Queen looked rather nonplussed, but still thoughtful. "This... in conjunction with the story you've just told us? This 'Other world', this 'Creator', these 'symbols'... Fayt, Maria, Sophia... your powers are to be used against this Creator individual?"

"More or less," Maria admitted, banishing a flicker of anger before it could make more than a brief appearance. "Unfortunately, the circumstances are less than ideal right now, and we're still at a loss for exactly how to proceed. We can, however, expect to make use of our powers in the near future."

"And from what Nel hinted earlier, you come to us for knowledge?" the Queen inquired. "While we're certainly flattered, what makes you think we would possess knowledge that you do not? Even about Runology? Or Symbology, as you people seem to call it."

"At this time," Maria explained, "even with all of our technological advances and equipment, we've never been able to actually _see_ symbological energies the way that you people can. And the branches of study that we _do_ have, they're extremely theoretical in nature. Whereas you people are considerably more practical in your focus."

"So you hope that we might be able to help you develop your powers further?"

"We've been told that our respective symbols react to proximity with one another," Maria explained. "I've noticed that my own abilities have become somewhat stronger since I met up with Fayt, but ever since Sophia joined our group recently, all of our powers have rapidly grown. We don't have much time, but it could only benefit us if we were to learn a little more about harnessing our powers."

"Well, under the circumstances, we will certainly do what we can to help you in that respect. Elena, would you be willing to assist in this matter?"  
The researcher smiled wryly. "I think I would be most upset, my Queen, if I _wasn't_ permitted to assist. But if time is of the essence...?"

"Very much so," Maria confirmed.

"Then perhaps if some other knowledgeable individuals were to help as well?"

"Who would you suggest?"

"Perhaps if Lady Clair were to work with Fayt?"

Both individuals mentioned looked surprised, giving each other a glance.

Nel gave the suggestion an approving nod of her head. "Clair is quite good with a sword, Fayt, and better at Runology than I am. And, of course, you're already acquainted with each other."

"And myself and Sophia?" Maria inquired.

Elena looked thoughtful. "I suppose it would be no trouble to take you both myself, but..."

clopclopclop  
Nel's ears perked up at the approaching sound coming from inside the throne room. "Elena... I think the solution is on his way right now..."

The rest of the group could soon hear the distinctive footsteps, the Elicoorians having no trouble recognizing whom they belonged to. Smiles began to grow on their faces as they clued into what Nel was suggesting.

The door leading back inside to the Throne Room was abruptly thrown open, a bulky figure striding in with all the purpose and power of a tsunami (and often just as badly timed). "Your Majesty! I have returned..." Adray Lasbard trailed off, suddenly aware of the entire group looking at him in an unusually calculating manner.

On the other hand, the older warrior had never been known for his shyness and hesitation. "Ah, Nel, welcome back! You had them all in a snit over your disappearance! I told them to have a little more faith in you all along!"

"I don't recall that at all, father," Clair retorted. "You were suggesting that she'd decided to elope with Albel Nox!"

"_Excuse me_!"

Adray laughed good-naturedly. "Well, Airyglyph said that their Albel had gone off somewhere too, right? It was a perfectly logical conclusion."

"_Logical_!"

"Well, no harm done," the older warrior decided. "I guess we'll have to tell Airyglyph to keep looking for the boy, then. So what brings the rest of you here?"

"A matter of great importance," Elena informed him. "And I think you're just the person we're looking for."

"Eh..." The man was immediately wary, and not, Nel knew, without reason. Owing to certain incidents in the past involving Elena's research projects, and Adray simply being himself in close proximity, the Chief Runologist's opinion was only slightly more charitable then that of Lasselle's. "I am?"

Nel steered the older warrior until he was facing Sophia. "Adray, Sophia. Sophia, this is Adray Lasbard, one of my kingdom's foremost Runological warriors."

Sophia strained her neck to look up the man. "Um, hello."

"Sophia has a great deal of interest in Runology," Nel elaborated. "And we don't have a lot of time right now. So we need you to teach her as much as you possibly can about Runology."

Adray looked appropriately intrigued. "Is that so?"

"So see what you can teach her in a couple of hours."

The man gave her an incredulous expression. "A couple of _hours_?"

"We're short for time right now," Nel explained. "I think you'll find that Sophia learns quickly. In the meantime, Clair is going to be teaching Fayt a few things."

Adray grinned. "Well, the boy's certainly got potential, I'll say that much. But my daughter is a soldier, not a teacher-"

"Your daughter is also right here," Clair interjected pointedly. "And she's trained recruits with far less talent than Master Fayt. I just hope I don't hear any reports about you terrorizing this young woman."

"Bah, you worry too much!" her father opinioned. Placing one of his massive hands on Sophia's shoulder, there was room for all but one of his fingers. "Come along, young lady! We'll show my worrisome daughter what a _real_ teacher can do! To the practice range!"

The others watched wordlessly as Adray lead Sophia away.

"Is... she going to be okay?" Fayt asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine," Nel assured her. "Adray is actually quite a good teacher, once you get used to him."

The boy nodded doubtfully. "Is she going to have enough time to get used to him?"

"Don't worry," Nel reassured him. "And you've got your own lessons ahead of you, remember? Clair can be a tough teacher, and a little bird told me the other day that you don't pay as much attention to your studies as you should."

Fayt's grin was half-accusing and half-guilty, and directed entirely towards the exit that Adray and Sophia had taken. "She never lets up..."

"Then I'll do my best to fill in for her," Clair promised, directing Fayt towards the exit. "Any suggestions, Nel?"

"See if you can teach him to infuse his sword with spells of an elemental nature," Nel suggested. "That would work well with what he already knows. It would be good if he could develop more conscious control over his powers."

"And that leaves me," Maria noted, giving Elena an expectant look.

"By all means, the researcher agreed. "Any suggestions, Nel?"

"Just work together," Nel finally decided, "I think that you two will get along just fine."

"Then we will retire to my laboratory," Elena decided, heading for the doorway. "We will see if we can't expound on what is known about these powers."

"That sounds like a good start," Maria approved, following closely behind her.

"Shall we go also, Fayt?" Clair invited. "Time is of the essence, it seems."

"Lead the way," he agreed, squaring his shoulders in readiness.

Nel watched Fayt leave with her best friend, once again allowing herself to marvel at the sheer runological potential surging beneath the boy's slender frame. Of the three children, his was easily the most formless and untamed. To be expected, considering that he had yet to use the power in a deliberate and controlled manner. But just remembering the sight of it being unleashed against the Vendeeni spaceship...

Sophia's power was almost as visible, and was already taking on patterns that a trained Runologist could recognize as spell-casting in nature, courtesy of her brief (but fruitful) flirtation with Runology. Yet even her most successful attempts, thus far, represented but a minute fraction of the power store she possessed. Hopefully, some higher-level teaching would remedy that, allowing the girl to bring the full potential of her power to bear...

Maria's power was technically the least intense of the three (although now easily rivalling even the Queen's), but it was far more defined in composition, hinting that however long ago the young woman had first discovered her powers, she had already invested considerable effort at exerting control over them. Perhaps a researcher like Elena could teach her new ways of directing her powers...

Could they truly hope to usefully harness such immense power in so short a time? Did they even have any other options at this point?

"Nel?"

Nel turned to address her Queen, cutting short any further rumination. "Your Majesty?"

"May I ask you to see to our other guests for the time being?"

Nel glanced over at the remaining individuals, neither blessed with previously unheard-of runological abilities.

"Don't worry about me," Cliff assured her. "I'll just take in the culture, if you don't mind. Didn't get much of a chance last time we were here, right?"

"This is Aquios, not Peterny," Nel pointed out. "Seedy taverns are in short supply, I'm afraid to say."

"Hey," he protested. "I've got an artistic side to my soul, you know."

"You hide it well."

"You're cruel," he griped. "Besides, somebody's gotta give Mirage a call and give her the full story about what we've been doing so far."

Nel gave up. "You do that then. Don't get into trouble. Don't leave the city. Meet back here in a few hours."

Cliff gave a mock-salute as he headed towards the doorway. "Yes ma'am, see you around. Catch you later, Your Majesty."

Nel shook her head wearily, but didn't bother trying to comment on or correct Cliff's version of royal courtesy. And he'd done so well the first time...

Instead, she turned to the remaining member of the party. "Well then," she remarked, "it looks like it's just you and me."

Peppita beamed her near-perpetual smile. "Yep!"

"This is your first time in our land?" the queen inquired. "Perhaps Nel could show you around our fine city?"

"Really!" If such a thing was even possible, the girl's smile widened. "Great!"

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The chapel had been the most obvious (and closest) place to start, and Peppita had been thoroughly appreciative of the size, the beauty, and the artwork through the place. Apparently her performing and dancing background had ingrained a deep appreciation and love for stories as well, and Nel had been forced to jog her own memory to accurately relate the stories behind her own country's history.

The large statues of the Sun God Apris, surrounded by his three wives, the Moon Goddesses Irisa, Erinia, and Palmira had provided an easy and obvious introduction into the story surrounding Aquaria I, known as 'The Founding Queen', and her role in founding the kingdom of Aquor, which the Kingdom of Aquaria could trace its ancestry from.

Which led into talking about Aquaria XVIII, known as 'Sirvia I, the Queen of Freedom', and her role in receiving and using the Sacred Orb, finally defeating the invading kingdom of Greeton over three centuries ago, and founding the present-day kingdom of Aquaria.

Unfortunately, Peppita seemed possessed of decent mathematical skills and was old enough to have had the facts of life explained to her. So the girl had asked how so many gifted Runologists could be descended from one queen. Which had required Nel to _briefly_ explain the story of Leo, known as 'The Son of the Queen of Freedom' in the country's lineage records, and known as 'The Rampantly and Shamelessly Fertile' (a.k.a. The Royal Man-slut) in less official literature.

Fortunately, Peppita hadn't inquired further about how the story ended. Which had - thank Apris - saved Nel the trouble of trying to explain how a very angry Sirvia I had finally put an end to her son's exploits in a very... cutting and direct manner. Despite that small mercy, Nel was versed enough in her country's history to know that a change of scenery might save her the trouble of having to relate a few more indelicate stories. That was the trouble with history - it had already happened, so you couldn't go back and fix it.

Fortunately, there _were_ other things to see.

Such as the massive waterfalls that flanked the castle itself, pouring down relentlessly without end, supplying the rivers that ran through the city itself. Unlike most waterfalls, these particular ones were fed their water from a considerably less mundane source - the Sacred Orb nestled within the Shrine of Kadden. As a result, the water was always clean and sparkling, free of any disease or filth. Even the local foods were said to taste better on account of the water...

Speaking of which...

Nel turned to Peppita. "Are you hungry?"

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

A short while later, Nel had become firmly convinced of something.

In fact, she was beginning to wonder why she hadn't figured it out earlier. The facts had been present almost from the very start, and now they were finally looking her right in the face. In fact, she couldn't believe that someone hadn't realized it earlier. It was simply _that_ obvious.

The boundless energy and enthusiasm. The inexhaustible supply of optimism, no matter the circumstances. The disturbingly disproportionate levels of strength and agility. The 'notice-me-and-pay-attention-to-me' aura unconsciously projected outwards. The smooth, supremely-confident swagger to the step, appearing wasteful to a casual observer, but finely-balanced and trained to a more discerning and critical eye...

"Yum! These are great! Can I have another one?"

...and the bottomless abyss for a stomach. The final conclusion was obvious: Clearly, at some point in the past, Cliff had fathered an illegitimate daughter named Peppita.

The clues were all there, especially the last one, and they all pointed to the same logical conclusion. Different race or not, it shouldn't be physically possible for _anyone_ to fit so much food inside them without exploding.

It had barely been an hour since she'd uttered the fateful words 'eat whatever you want', and her previously-full purse was almost completely empty at this point. Obviously, she hadn't learned her lesson from the first time with Cliff and Fayt. As a matter of fact...

"Last one," Nel informed Peppita. "I'm out of money now."

"_Mmph_?" Peppita paused in mid-bite, her facial expression instantly going from 'blissful' to 'distressed' as she looked away from her hot pie to look up at Nel. "'o 'onee?"

"Sorry," Nel apologized; not adding that she probably could have fed a family with what she'd just spent on Peppita. A BIG family, at that. "If you're still hungry, we can go back to the castle's kitchen and obtain more food there."

Peppita looked guilty as she offered the remaining portion of the hot pie to Nel. "Um... you want this half?"

Faced with the look of overwhelming and contrite remorse, Nel silently dismissed her 'Daughter of Cliff' theory, the two being quite incompatible. But it didn't make the aforementioned attributes any less noticeable.

"Don't worry about it," she assured the girl, waving aside the offer. "You look like you're enjoying it. And you may as well take advantage of the opportunity while you're here, right?"

Peppita beamed, immediately cramming the rest of the pie into her mouth.

"We'll be on our way," Nel informed the shopkeeper. "Thank-you for your service."

"Thank _you_, Lady Nel," the shopkeeper required earnestly - and for good reason. With today's sales, Nel imagined, the woman's family would definitely not go hungry. And there would now be room in the store for new stock. LOTS of room. "May the grace of Apris be with you, Lady Nel."

"And also with you," Nel agreed, leading her charge outside before she could grab any of the remaining food.

-+-+-+-+-+

"Sorry," Peppita was apologizing, having finished inhaling the last half of her pie. "I couldn't read any of the signs..."

Nel smiled understandingly, leading by half a step as the two continued down Aquios' main road. "It's no problem. And it's a much better way to help the local businesses than outright charity."

She hadn't given it much thought earlier, but in retrospect, she'd _never_ caught any of the outsiders actually reading anything while on Elicoor II. And now, having recently gained a new perspective on the matter, she understood why.

The translation devices that they used handled speech flawlessly, but they were useless when it came to writing. As a result, the visitors could no more read the writing down here than she could read the writing aboard their spaceships and space stations.

True, Fayt had looked over the diagrams for the Thunder Arrow, but he'd never actually read anything on them. If anything, the fact that he'd _still_ been able to provide sound advice and directions spoke even more highly for his aptitudes.

Now, where to take Peppita that didn't involve spending money? Nel had already taken her charge through the most popular areas for visitors and wasn't sure that any of the remaining areas would use up much time...

"Are you important?"

Nel blinked, returning her full attention to Peppita again. "I'm sorry?"

"Are you important?" the girl repeated. "That lady in the store called you 'Lady Nel'. And that lady in the castle before was a queen, right? And you're a fighter, right? So if you can talk to her directly like that, that must make you an important fighter, right?"

"You could say that," Nel agreed, stifling a smile of bemusement over the girl's train of logic. "I'm the leader of one of our main military divisions, the Secret Legion."

"The _Secret_ Legion? So what kind of secret stuff do you do?"

"We're charged with defending this city against enemies. My battalion is focused primarily on espionage and infiltration duties."

"You mean, spying?"

"That's right. And sabotage, of course."

"Really? That sounds exciting."

Nel couldn't quite keep from making a face. She could remember a lot of people making remarks to that effect, years ago. Then the war had happened, and people began to learn firsthand exactly how 'exciting' war really was. "I suppose, to an outside observer, it might sound that way."

"So what's it like?"

"The war is over now, but I spent most of my time in enemy territory either fighting the enemy, or attempting to learn things that would let other people fight the enemy better."

"So, you did lots of sneaking around?"

"Frequently, yes," Nel agreed. "After all, it's much easier to be a spy when the enemy doesn't know you're there."

"I guess that makes sense. So did you ever get into big battles?"

"From time to time, yes." Hopefully, Nel figured, the girl would pick up the tone of discouragement in her voice. Sometime today, for preference.

"So what were they like?" Peppita persisted. "The big battles?"

"They were big, and a lot of people died in them."

"Oh."

Nel felt a small twinge of guilt for stomping on the girl's enthusiasm so bluntly, but pushed it aside. She'd had misgivings about the girl coming along from the very start, she _still_ did, and the sooner Peppita realized that this wasn't just some amusement trip-

"It's just, I always wondered what it like for my dad," Peppita continued. "I told you before that he was a soldier, right? My mother told me that he fought really hard to protect other people."

"..." Nel replied.

"But, since he had to leave right before I was born, I never had a chance to ask _him_ what it was like-"

"..." Nel added.

"-and I don't know his name, so I can't exactly find out where he is, right?"

"..." Nel finally concluded.

"So I wanted to know what being a soldier is really like," Peppita finished. "Everybody says that I'm going to be a great dancer someday, just like my mother, and I really hope I can be. But since everything is really dangerous right now, I think I'd like to be a great soldier just like my father."

Just like who? Nel wondered silently. A father who 'had to leave' his daughter shortly after she was born? With a mother who had never felt inclined to give her daughter a name to know her father by?

"What do you think?" Peppita asked curiously.

"What do _I_ think?"

"Yeah."

What did Nel think?

Nel thought that Peppita's mother was a liar. Nel thought that the only thing Peppita's father had bothered protecting was his own freedom and convenience. And Nel thought, if the girl's suddenly solemn expression was any indication, that Peppita had probably managed to figure that out for herself, a long time ago.

And, Nel decided firmly, she would be damned if she ever put words to those thoughts. "I think..." she pursed her lips thoughtfully, "...that you and I may have something in common."

Peppita blinked owlishly. "Hmm?"

By way of reply, Nel produced her blades, giving them both a quick spin between her fingers before holding them out for inspection. "Like myself, my father fought to protect this land and its people. These blades are family heirlooms, which he once wielded in battle."

The girl appraised them as well as she could. "They look very sharp."

"They are," Nel understated. "My father wore these during his last battle. It was near the beginning of the war, and a much larger enemy force had attacked him and his unit. It _was_ a great battle, and he and his soldiers fought valiantly."

"What happened?" Peppita asked, spellbound. "Did they win?"

"Unfortunately, they were heavily outnumbered and ambushed," Nel admitted. "When he realized that the battle was lost, my father ordered his unit to retreat. While he stayed behind to buy enough time for them to make their escape."

"You mean..."

A solemn nod. "He sacrificed himself so that most of his unit could live."

Peppita swallowed. "That's... sad. I mean, he was very brave, but..."

"It _is_ sad," Nel agreed solemnly. "I'm proud of my father for what he did, but at the same time... not a day goes by that I don't wish he was still here today."  
Placing a hand on Peppita's shoulder, Nel directed her gaze straight at the girl. "And _that_ is why Fayt said to you what he did. If you want to protect others, you need to be willing to place your life in the path of danger for them. But at the same time, you have to realize that sacrificing yourself is a terrible thing as well. Which is why you can't be 'ready to die'."

"I guess that's right." the younger girl looked thoughtful. "So what you're _really_ trying to do is make sure that _everybody_ is alive at the end of the battle."

"Exactly."

"So... you have to be willing to go into danger, but you have to make sure you don't get killed, but you have to make sure nobody else gets killed... that's hard, isn't it?"

"It's even _harder_ than sacrificing yourself," Nel acknowledged, "which means that you have to try even harder. But if you can do it-" With perhaps more pomp and flair than strictly necessary, Nel spun her knives back into their sheaths. "-you can follow in _both_ of your parent's footsteps, right?"

Peppita's face broke into a smile again. "Right!"

-+-+-+-+-+-+

"So what should we do _now_?"

Nel didn't bother turning her head to look at the speaker. Even if Peppita's voice wasn't distinctive enough by itself, it wasn't as though anyone else was nearby.

But to be frank, she was tired of walking around town, or of any other physical activity. She'd been pushing herself to her limits far too often as of late, and she'd be damned if she wouldn't take a chance to stay still and rest while she had it. And if Peppita suffered from some form of permanent hyperactivity, well, she'd already had the tour of the town.

Conversation, however, Nel didn't mind. "I'm sorry?"

"Well, we don't have super powers like Fayt and the others, right?" Peppita reasoned. "Well, _you_ do, but they're _normal_ super powers, not _super_ super powers, right? And you already know how to use yours."

"You could say that, yes."

"But we're going up against a big guy, so we need to become stronger too, right? So shouldn't we be practicing too?"

As far as Nel was concerned, she'd started 'practicing' ever since she first broke Fayt and Cliff out of prison, and it had only gotten harder since then. "You're right, but it's also important not to wear yourself out in the process. Right now, I'm allowing my body to rest and recover after everything I've been through lately. Which will let me fight more effectively when the time finally comes."

"Oh. But I haven't been through as much, so I don't need to rest. So what should _I_ do to get stronger?"

"I'm not quite sure," Nel admitted. "Sometimes, the most important thing can be to keep a positive attitude about everything, even between the fighting. But... somehow, I don't think that you'll have a problem with _that_."

Peppita nodded, her near-permanent smile backing her up in agreement. "But still, I gotta try and get stronger, too. So that I can fight harder, but without dying, right?"

"I suppose so. I'm not sure what kind of training you could do, however. Your... 'style' is quite a bit different than any I've seen before. What do you call it?"

"Um... dancing, I guess. I learned lots of different dances from my mother - when she was still alive, I mean - so when I was fighting, I'd just use different routines."

Nel looked sceptical. "Those are _dance_ routines?"

"Well... kinda. I mean, normally I don't hit things with them, but it's not like I _can't_, right? And lots of my dances are freeform, so I make it up as I go."

"That's... a fairly elaborate improvisation."

"Well, sometimes you don't have a full-size stage to perform on, or a high enough ceiling, so you have to work around it. So you gotta be flexible and adapt."

"Which also holds true for fighting," Nel allowed. "So how do you go about practicing flexibility in your dancing?"

By way of response, Peppita gave her A Look, clearly indicating she considered the question to be rhetorical. "By dancing, of course! Is there anywhere to practice?"

"Well... the practice range is being used by Adray and Sophia... and I expect that Clair and Fayt will be using the courtyard for their own practice-"

"Is over there okay?"

Nel cut her deliberations short. "Where?"

"Over there," Peppita repeated, pointing towards the main steps leading into the castle proper.

"In front of the castle?" Nel asked incredulously.

"No good? Are there zoning rules against performing there? We run into those sometimes..."

"Well, not as such..."

"So why not?"

"Well, if you don't mind being in public..."

Once again, Peppita bestowed A Look upon Nel, indicating that she'd managed to say something patently ridiculous. "_Of course_ I don't mind! I'm a performer! I'll pretend I'm doing my first show!"

"Oh. Er... I suppose that would be okay. Just be sure not to get in anybody's way."

"Don't worry!" Peppita assured her, skipping over towards the castle steps.

As always, it was an eccentric sort of locomotion, that somehow managed to make the ribbons, clothing, and jewellery travel ten times the distance that their wearer did, as though doing their best to draw the attention of the world at large. But at the same time, Nel's practiced eye could see that each step was deceptively careful and measured, with each foot placed in a precise and balanced manner that would have been equally at home on a walkway or a wire. And when you thought about it, it was _exactly_ what one might expect from a dancer.

Hopping up to the first step, Peppita twirled around twice, coming to a stop facing Nel, with her hands clasped winsomely together. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Welcome to The Show!"

Despite herself, Nel smiled in response, allowing herself to lean against a nearby stone pillar for the duration of 'The Show'. While she still had every intention of staying put, she had no objections to enjoying a 'performance' at the same time. One thing was for certain - no one could ever call Peppita shy or self-conscious.

Even the sun seemed obliging enough to brighten in response, beginning to dispel the overcast gloom from the castle steps.

"You may have paid for your whole seat today, but you're only going to need the edge! Because we've got a great performance lined up for you today, featuring an up-and-coming dancer making her debut showing! Making her entrance now... the Fairy of Illusions... PEPPITA ROSETTI!"

It really was getting brighter out, Nel's brain noted offhandedly. Perhaps the wind had finally pushed aside the last of the cloud cover from before...

In cue with her own speech, the 'Fairy of Illusions' executed an extravagant bow, holding it for several seconds before righting herself again. "Today I'm going to show you a wonderful world of fantasy and adventure, so let's not waste any-hey, what's that?"

At approximately this time, the business portion of Nel's brain finally remembered that the sun was directly behind the castle proper, and had absolutely no business brightening the front steps like it seemed to be managing. Craning her neck sideways to try and identify the new source of light, she immediately found herself looking up. And up. And UP.

"Oh... _WOW!_" Peppita breathed in delight, taking in the colossal globe of surging fire and pulsing light in one fell swoop, even as it hung in the sky like a second sun.

"What in the-"

"It looks like it's coming down!" Peppita observed, with uncanny accuracy.

It did, Nel silently agreed. In fact, only its immense size was disguising the fact that it was descending at a disturbingly rapid pace - almost as though more than mere gravity was sending it downwards to the earth. In fact, she could not only see it, she could hear and feel it as well... an ominous bass roar, steadily growing louder, even as it began to reverberate through her bones and the air around her...

The gigantic ball of flame briefly vanished from view, descending behind a tall stone wall. But not for long, because the ground was waiting for it, and the two collided with a vengeance. Moments later, a wider sphere of flame exploded skywards again, even as an ominous rumble reverberated through the ground. Several seconds later, the shattering of windows could be heard in the distance, with the beginnings of a massive cloud of dust beginning to rise around the periphery of the explosion.

Nel stared at it all in bewilderment for an instant, her mind feverishly working on a rational explanation for what had just occurred. There was a logical reason, she knew, if she could only remember it-

Peppita blinked at it, her attention momentarily diverted. "Wow... I didn't know there was going to be special effects... Nel? What was-"

Without so much as a word, Nel suddenly broke into a sprint towards the scene of the explosion.

-+-+-+-+-+-+

It had taken several long second for Nel's mind to put several key facts together, but when they finally combined, there was no room left for uncertainty.

What she had just seen was clearly a runological fire spell.   
The runological fire spell was of an _extremely_ high-level variety.  
The fire spell had been cast over the training grounds.  
There were very few runologists in Aquaria capable of actually casting such a spell.  
Of them, there was only one crazy enough to cast such a spell on the training grounds.  
Right now, that same Runologist just happened to _be_ on the training grounds.  
And he was with a student.

Her aches and pains regulated to a secondary concern, Nel cleared the fifteen-foot wall around the training grounds by several feet, absently using a small amount of Wind Runology to give her the needed boost. She landed on the ground so hard it took three rolls to absorb enough momentum to let her return to her feet again and face-

"ADRAY!" she yelled, running towards what had been the epicentre of the explosion.

"-BWAHAHAHA!"

"What in Apris' name do you think you're DOING?" she demanded in disbelief.

A faint surge of Runological power appeared to her eyes. Moments later, a corresponding gust of wind whisked away the remainder of the airborne dust, revealing a madly laughing Adray Lasbard, with the diminutive form of Sophia cowering behind him.

"EXCELLENT!" the warrior declared to the world at large. "Simply _EXCELLENT_!"

Nel reigned in her temper before she could abuse the man in a fashion normally reserved for his daughter. "Adray...!"

He turned to look at her, covered in a fine layer of ash, but still grinning hugely. "Ah, Nel! And to think I doubted you earlier!"

"What are you talking about? You just-"

"FATHER!" That was Clair, who had clearly wasted just as little time as Nel in arriving on the scene. And from the look on her face, she was only a hairsbreadth from giving her own temper free reign.  
"You've gone too far this time! You-"

Adray cut both of them off with a wave of her hand. "-did nothing at all, girls."

Both of them stared. "You call _this_-" "You can't be serious-"

"Magnificent, isn't it?" he agreed cheerfully. "Only, it wasn't _me_ that cast that spell!"

Clair's expression could generously be termed 'stunned'. "_She_ - Sophia - cast _that_ spell?"

"..." Nel replied, swivelling her gaze to get a second look at the widespread destruction. The foliage was a lost cause, even the tree trunks and stumps having been reduced to ashes under the intense heat. The ground underneath had been uprooted, cratered, and even glassed in places, like Apris himself had deigned to personally redecorate. For all that it was a training ground, it had never remotely been intended for such large-scale Runology practice, and the landscape would probably be years in the recovery. Such practice was usually conducted far away from towns, with advance warnings posted so as to not alarm the people.

Nel returned to her gaze to the alleged culprit. "Sophia, you... really did this?"

Sophia swallowed nervously under the scrutiny. "Erm... I'm sorry, I... I didn't realize it would be so... _big_."

The admission was enough to set Adray off laughing again. "By all the gods, girl! Just when I thought I'd seen everything! Still, a good thing I was here to throw up a shield. Otherwise we'd have gotten a little sun-burned ourselves!"

"Sophia?" That was Fayt, who had lagged behind Clair somewhat, or possibly gotten lost in the process of following her. He looked at the destruction in amazement. "Wow... they sure didn't teach _this_ course in school, did they?"

"That was AWESOME!" Peppita voiced. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the wall hop hadn't posed too much difficulty for the dancer. "We saw it all the way in front of the castle!"

"Hah! Where were you during the war, girl?" Adray wondered aloud. "We could have used you then!"

Clair scowled. "Father! That's a terrible thing to say!"

Adray waved her aside, turning to face Sophia again. Bending down, he brought his face level with hers, his expression now more solemn. "In all seriousness, girl, I've never seen someone pick things up the way you are. You've got some incredible power in you, and you've got the talent and the smarts to do things with it, too. But there's more to it than just that - you know that, right?"

Sophia flushed. "Er... not really. I only learned these things a few days ago, you see-"

"A few days, a few years, what's the difference? What _really_ matters is the person behind it all - their heart. And even in this short time, girl, I can tell that you've got the right kind of heart for this. It's one thing to be able to cast big spells like this, but it's another thing to do it for the right reasons. You've a big responsibility with this level of power, and you need to make sure that you use your power for good. And make sure that you _do_ use it when you have to. You understand what I'm saying?"

Clair smiled wanly, finally relaxing her posture. "Father..."

"I think so," Sophia confirmed. "I know I'm not much of a fighter, but I can't afford to let that hold me back from doing my best with what I have."

Adray nodded approvingly, standing tall again. "Attagirl! Just like my daughter, I think. All meek and quiet, but get her riled up and you'd better run for the hills!"

Clair twitched. "_Father..._" She then redirected her glare. "_Nel..._"

Nel hastily muffled her laugh.

"So," Adray continued, standing up again, "you also need to make sure you know _how_ to use your power, understand? I've never seen the likes of your learning speed, girl, but even the best always need practice."

Sophia nodded in agreement.

"So in that case..." Adray gestured grandly towards the new clearing. "Let's try it again!"

"ADRAY!" "FATHER!"

-+-+-+-+-+-+ Fifteen years later (actually, only about fifteen minutes in real time), some semblance of control was finally re-established at the training grounds. An immediate moratorium was called on further high-level spells, much to Adray's disappointment, in favour of smaller, more varied spells.

Cliff had arrived on the scene shortly after, informing them that the Diplo had detected the spell from orbit, which had seriously concerned Mirage for a short time. Nel wasn't quite sure what a 'Kelvin' was, but the Diplo seemed to have detected quite a few of them in the explosion.

Sophia had agreed to a short break, while Fayt demonstrated the fruits of his own training with Clair. In parallel with Sophia's own prodigious learning curve, the boy had already mastered the art of harnessing elemental Runology through his sword, and directing them to deadly effect. Clair had also taken the time to give him some less spectacular - but equally important - tips on wielding his sword more effectively.

"Wow," Sophia was saying, watching Fayt send a blast of flame away from his sword. "I still can't believe we're actually _doing_ these things..."

"Neither can _we_," Nel assured her dryly. "Although I must admit, I don't think you two could have picked a better time to learn so quickly."

"Well, I'm trying," Sophia agreed modestly. "Do you think I could use those healing spells you used before?"

"That'd be handy," Cliff agreed. "Never hurts to have some backup, and it'd let Nel save her magic for other spells."

Nel nodded, agreeing with the Klausian's prognosis. And at the rate Sophia was learning Runology, she'd probably be bringing people back from the dead in a matter of days. "I see no reason why not... but I'm not sure who you could practice the spells on. They require the presence of a real injury to function properly."

"Oh."

"Well, don't get too down over it," Adray decided. "Hmm... perhaps we could check with the infirmaries..."

Nel mentally groaned, envisioning the fate of any patient forced to endure Adray teaching magic on them. The man would certainly do it too, unless somebody - meaning Nel, most likely - managed to divert his attention.

Fortunately, she was _good_ at that...

"Adray," she began, hastily stifling a smile. It was for a good cause, she assured herself.

He looked over at her. "Eh?"

Nel beckoned him closer, which he obeyed. In a lower voice, "What do you think of Fayt?"

The man raised an eyebrow, quieting his voice to what passed for loud talking in most people. "Fayt? He's a good boy. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that..." Nel frowned in consternation. "I don't know if you've noticed, but him and Clair..."

Sophia frowned suspiciously, while Cliff just looked confused.

Adray's other eyebrow went up as he glanced towards the two of them. "Him and my daughter..." he trailed off inquisitively.

"They've known each other for some time now," Nel pointed out patiently. "Ever since I first led him into Arias, really. And Fayt _is_ an exceptional young man, correct? He's both brave and intelligent, he's a capable fighter, he immensely loyal to his friends... all qualities that any woman would find desirable, I think."

Sophia's mouth dropped open in shock.

Adray eyebrows were threatening to climb right off his forehead. "You... you think?"

Nel shrugged casually. With Adray, you could lead the horse to water, but sometimes you had to push his face into the water before he took a drink. "And really, after all the time they've spent together... how could Fayt have failed to notice what a capable leader... and _woman_ Clair is?"

By this point, Cliff was looking dumbstruck as well - a rare enough occurrence for him.

"Hmm..." Adray glanced covertly at the two people in question, where Clair was offering corrections to Fayt's stance and posture. "You... may be right, Nel. I can't believe I didn't notice it earlier..."

"I've been with Fayt long enough to recognize the signs," Nel assured him. "But Fayt is a rather... indecisive individual outside of combat. And of course, Clair is always concentrating on her duty. And of course, they'd both be mindful of you..."

The older man nodded. "I see your point. They might be worried that I wouldn't approve, so they've kept it a secret this long. But Fayt _would_ be a good match... perhaps I should put their concerns to rest..."

"Possibly," Nel agreed, barely keeping a straight face. Fortunately, with Adray, once you got the horse to drink, he'd cheerfully drink the entire pond in one go...

"Well, no sense in beating around the bush," Adray decided, starting towards the two. "Fayt! Daughter!"

"You..." Cliff shook his head in disbelief.

"Er, Nel?" Sophia began nervously.

"I APPROVE!" Adray announced to the two individuals and the world at large.

"I mean," Cliff insisted, "by that kind of logic, you and _me_ would be-"

"-Fayt's not _really_... with that woman, is he?"

"-but I won't hear of any elopements, you two understand?"

Silence.

In the distance, several birds chirped in the trees.

Fayt looked like the direct recipient of a petrification spell.

Clair smiled at her father.

"And," Adray added for good measure, "I would certainly hope the two of you haven't done anything-"

CRUNCH

Cliff gaped in horror. "Did she just-"

-CRUNCHBOOMCRACK-

Fayt had wasted no time in beating a hasty retreat until he was next to the others. "I don't know _anything_ about what he was talking about," he informed nobody in particular.

"Don't worry about it too much," Nel assured him, a smile briefly crossing her face.

-CRUNCHPOWBOOMBOOMZAPZAPZAP-

"She's really fast at spells," Sophia observed, her earlier concerns having been allayed at this point.

-THUD

"Is she a Klausian or something?" Cliff wanted to know. "Because she's coming this way."

"_Nel_," Clair called out, her demure expression contrasting sharply with the runological scabbard-whipping she'd just dealt out.

"Yes?" Nel inquired, neutralizing her expression.

Clair stopped in front of her, just outside of arm's reach. "Father was just saying the _strangest_ thing..."

Nel merely quirked an eyebrow in response. "Oh really?"

Clair nodded, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "And I can't imagine _who_ could have put that idea into his head. Can you?"

By some unspoken agreement, Cliff, Fayt, and Sophia all began to edge away from Nel.

The redhead sighed, perhaps a little too theatrically. "Could be anyone, I expect. You know how rumours get started sometimes."

The silvette smiled sweetly, taking another step forward. "_Is that so_?"

"By the way," Nel began innocently, edging backwards half a step. "Sophia was showing interest in learning some healing Runology, and your father seems to have been injured-"

Clair lunged. Nel fled.

-+-+-+-+-+-+

A considerable distance later, most of it covered at a fast sprint, the rest covered in mid-air, two individuals were gasping for breath at the foot of the palace gardens. Suffice to say, the aforementioned interim had contained a great deal of attempted violence and attempted evasion, and both had been halfway successful.

"You are..." Clair was wheezing, "in a (huff)... disturbingly... good mood."

Nel would have laughed, but her lungs were too busy sucking in air. "Hah (gasp)... sorry (gasp). It's not like (wheeze)... he wouldn't have tried something (gasp)... sooner or later."

Clair raised her sword warningly. The fact that it was still secure in its scabbard accomplished little, save to turn it into a giant club, which had been demonstrated repeatedly and firsthand on Nel, over the aforementioned considerable distance. "That doesn't (huff) mean you need to go encouraging him!"

"It was - heh - for a good cause," the redhead protested feebly, rubbing her head. "Besides, some poor patient in the infirmary is resting peacefully thanks to me."

"Thanks to _me_," Clair corrected pointedly. "And I restate my case - to hear the story you and the others gave earlier, you're in much too good of a mood."

"I know. It's..." Nel sagged against the other's shoulder, words failing her for a moment. "It's hard for me to explain. I've just... seen _so much_."

Clair's expression bore equals portions of amusement and sympathy. "Yes, you were certainly alluding to that earlier on. As though the Celestial ships weren't incredible enough by themselves."

"It's more than that," she insisted, gesturing weakly with her hands. "It's... it's like being shut up in a little cave for your entire life, and suddenly being given the whole world to explore. You... the outside world is strange and dangerous and... _big_, but it's exciting at the same time."

Clair raised an eyebrow. "So much?"

"It is," Nel admitted, shaking her head with a sigh. "Almost everything we take for granted, no matter how common or basic, is completely different. And this world... our entire world... we're like a blade of grass on the Arias plains. And there's somebody out there who wants to burn it all to ashes."

"Is our world really so... insignificant?"

"Not insignificant," Nel corrected quickly. "But... the universe extends far beyond our own world, even if we haven't learned how to go there yet. Even with their celestial ships, the offworlders have barely begun to discover everything out there."

As with many other recent statements, her best friend took the admission at face value. "I see."

"It sounds crazy," Nel acknowledged. "But it's true. It's all up there... no, _out there_, waiting to be found. And we're down here, killing each other because we can't agree on whether to farm or mine a plot of land."

"That's... an interesting way of putting it," Clair noted, but without any suggestion of argument. "But who can say? Perhaps with the fighting finally at a close, we can begin to try and discover ways to reach those places ourselves."

"Yes," Nel agreed, smiling a little at the notion. She'd already managed to accept that there were centuries of progress separating her own people and the offworlders. But as the old saying went, didn't a journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step? "I would like that."

Clair merely nodded.

Nel leaned back against the stone wall, briefly enjoying the cooling sensation that the cold stone gave her back and shoulders. Her body had a cruel owner, but she didn't foresee much rest in the near future. Traipsing through space to strange worlds and locations, facing down enemies that defied any conventional description, fighting a struggle to determine her and her people's very existence...

...there was something immensely comforting about being home again. To gaze upon the endless plains and mountains of her world, to walk through the streets of her cities and buy food from the local shops, to bow before her cherished and revered Queen, to be chased across the castle grounds while her best friend tried to bludgeon her senseless...

"Nel?"

Nel glanced over, then upwards at Clair, who was now standing.

"As much as I would love to sit here with you all day..." Clair extended a hand downwards invitingly. "Perhaps we should start back towards the others?"

Nel accepted the helping hand, letting herself be pulled upwards. Rather than relinquish her grip, however, she pulled her best friend into a hug. "Thanks."

Clair didn't hesitate to return the embrace. "Hmm? If you're really that thankful, I would be _delighted_ to bestow a few more bruises..."

"I've got plenty," Nel assured her in earnest. "I meant, thanks for reminding me what I have to come home to."

"Beatings?"

"That too," Nel allowed. "I was telling that girl - Peppita, I mean - earlier that it's important to fight to defend others. But it's just as important to return home afterwards, to the ones you love."

"Absolutely," Clair agreed, tightening her embrace. "So... you intend to leave with the offworlders again?"

"I... think I need to," Nel admitted. "I don't pretend to understand everything, but our world, along with the rest of creation, is in grave danger. And I can't turn my back on that, not when I might be able to make a difference."

Clair disengaged herself, but rested a hand on Nel's shoulder. "I suppose it would be foolish to expect otherwise from you. And I can tell you've already committed your heart to this."

A nod.

"Then, if our people have been chosen to provide a warrior to aid in this fight, I can think of no one better suited to represent our people."

Nel flushed slightly, but mostly shrugged the reaction aside as the two began to walk towards the training grounds. "I intend to do my best. And I intend that my best, along with others, will be enough to do the job."

"Nor could we ask any more of you," Clair agreed. "And does our little world - this little blade of grass on the Arias plains - hold enough of importance to bring you back afterwards?"

Nel smiled in response. "Absolutely."

Perhaps the old adage held some truth after all - there was no place like home. And if that very home's safety was at stake, could there possibly be any stronger motivation to succeed? Perhaps, no matter how wondrous and spectacular the other worlds might be, they were made all the more special by the journey home at the end.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Author's Notes:

Normally, I wouldn't be complaining about a chapter turning out longer than expected, but this series was honestly only supposed to be a collection of tiny one-shots. Eh, whatever. I think I may just have doubled Peppita's fan fiction exposure with this chapter.

Apologies for the delay in updating. Halfway through writing this chapter, Windows decided to crash while installing some patches. And in the process, Word was unable to properly close my writing file, which resulted in the file completely vanishing without a trace, including the auto-save file. Three different file recovery programs later, I was still file-less. Fortunately, I had a backup to resort to (This is what backups are for, kids). Unfortunately, it was over three months old, and was missing a great deal of material.

My original plan for this chapter was to have Peppita make the introduction that she did, but actually have her perform. She was going to do three dances - a warm-up, a 'battle-inspired' dance, and a 'life-inspired' dance, somewhat in keeping with her and Nel's earlier conversation. And she was pulling off some amazing moves in the process, to the point where Nel's actually awestruck that someone only fourteen years old could manage such things. In the process, a huge crowd gathers to watch, and Nel begins to realize that Peppita's dance is actually affecting the entire crowd in a strange way - almost as if the girl is using Runology or something. But that's impossible, right? The whole time, Peppita's clearly in her element, and working the crowd into a frenzy. She finishes her third dance with a spectacular move, and a perfectly timed explosion spell lights up the background. Which leads into the rest of the chapter. It was quite lengthy and flambouyant in description, with lots of manoeuvres reminiscent of her in-game moves with ribbons and bangles, and I all but overheated my thesaurus in the process. Sounds great, huh? But I lost it, and I have too many other things I want to get writing on, and I'm simply not willing to spend another three or four months trying and recreate something that likely won't be as good the second time. So it's gone, and as far as anyone else is concerned, I simply took way too long to write this.

At any rate, am I the only person who thinks that there must have been two different writing teams assigned to this game - one for the script, and the other for the in-game dictionary? And if the two teams had been switched, this game would have had the most AMAZING plot in the history of all video games? From all the SO3 fanfiction I've read, I know I'm not the only one who's spent a lot of time reading through the in-game dictionary. And when I see how many interesting details appear in the dictionary, but never get even the briefest mention in the actual game... absolutely criminal, I say.

Point in case: Compare Peppita's dialogue when you get to decide whether to take her along or not, to the dictionary entries surrounding her and her mother. You really could interpret those differences several ways, couldn't you? Additionally, Peppita apparently lost her mother before she even turned five, but she's still managed to learn her mother's dances? Considering that no actual mention is made of any other dancers/trainers for her to learn from, and the Rossetti Troupe was about to let her host their performance on Hyda IV, it's not unreasonable to imagine that Peppita's dancing abilities might be far beyond what the game gives her credit for. Just a possibility, mind.

Cheers.

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end


	12. Chapter 12 Omake

Points of View  
A Star Ocean 3 fanfic by Intrasonic

Disclaimer: This item of fanfiction is public domain and not intended for profit. And believe me, it isn't making any.

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Bonus Chapter!   
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Setting: Afterwards/Homecoming   
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OMAKE#1

Author's Notes: This is better understood if you've seen Adray's 3P costume template. I don't know who thought that idea up, but I hope they got a raise.  
+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Nel smiled weakly under the combined gazes of her various friends. Claire, Lasselle, Elena... even the Queen herself. Elena was presently holding several pieces of paper with technical diagrams.

"Allow me to get this straight," Elena was saying. "You traveled to other worlds, experienced untold wonders and technologies, and finally arrived home again."

Nel nodded cautiously.

"You faced off against beings who might well be considered godlike, emerging victorious against them. Which could have countless theological ramifications for centuries to come."

Nel nodded again.

"You discovered hidden facets to our national treasure, the Sacred Orb, and the true purpose to its existence?"

Once again, Nel nodded meekly.

"And afterwards, the only thing you bring back is a set of diagrams-" here, Elena waved the papers she was holding, "-a set of diagrams with blueprints for an _automated chamber pot_?"

Nel flushed and studied the ground. "It made a big impression on me at the time, okay?"

Behind her, the doors were flung open in a fashion that instantly identified the new arrival.

"Greetings, your Majesty!" Adray boomed. "Elena, Nel, Claire! I have returned victorious!"

"Don't mind me," Lasselle muttered under his breath.

"Hello, father."

"Greetings, Adray," the queen replied. She smiled beautifically. "Nel was just sharing some of her newfound knowledge she gained on her journey."

Nel was, in fact, beginning to feel incredibly unknowledgeable.

Adray nodded approvingly. "Yes, we both learned a great deal from our experiences."

"We can see that. Before long," Elena replied, in an over-saccharine tone of voice, "chamber pots everywhere will be obsolete thanks to Nel's foresight."

And to think she had been _eager_ to return home.

"I always thought Nel was too practical for her good," Adray agreed sagely. "She needs to get in touch with her emotions, I've always felt. Too logical in her thinking, and not enough _feeling_ to get to what's really important."

"I suppose you know better?" Lasselle challenged.

The big man grinned. "Of course! I brought back a souvenir of my own!"

Elena brightened. "You _did_? May I see it?"

"Of course! I wish for all the world to see it! A memento of my time spent in other worlds, made possible by their unimaginable technology! A souvenir chosen with feeling, that will never wear out!"

Elena brightened even more.

Nel groaned. She'd almost managed to forget about Adray's "souvenir", courtesy of the costume outfitters in Gemity...

"Behold!" Adray cried, and turned his back on them.

Silence.

Lasselle blanched. "That's..."

"Father," Claire whispered in disbelief.

"Oh my," the queen breathed.

"It's startlingly... lifelike, isn't it?" Nel offered weakly.

Adray flexed a little, giving the group a clearer look at the massive tattoo emblazoned across his back. "Done with the finest of inks, manufactured and applied with means beyond our own world! Guaranteed to last a lifetime!"

Elena had finally recovered her voice. "You... tattooed your daughter's face on your back!" she blurted.

"This is... possibly a new low," Lassalle opinioned.

"Still, the artwork _is_ well-done," the Queen allowed.

"It's a work of beauty!" Adray declared. "Nothing less for my daughter! Now the whole world will know how much I care for her!"

There was another period of silence, during which the room's attention eventually focused on one person.

"Quite a souvenir, don't you think, Claire?"

Claire smiled back her father. At least, her mouth did. "Yes... Once again, you've _completely_ exceeded my expectations, father."

"It was the least I could do," Adray assured her.

Claire nodded in agreement, taking her father's arm and leading him towards the door.

Adray raised an eyebrow, but followed along. "You want to go outside? Good idea, the lighting is rather dim in here..."

The door closed behind them, most of the way. Enough that they could still hear voices.

"...there we go, in the sunlight! See the inkwork, the attention to detail? Truly a beautiful thing, you must admit... eh? What's that in your hand, Claire? A cobblestone? What are you planning on-URGH!"

Several solid impacts sounded through the doorway, as the rest of the group listened on without comment.

"On the other hand," Lassalle finally noted, sounding almost cheerful, "it seems that the lifetime guarantee will prove absolutely true."

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OMAKE#2

Author's Notes: As I mentioned in chapter 11, my original plan was for Peppita to actually perform in front of everybody. This little part (at least, the first part), was cut from that section, back before it was ruined. Dedicated to Peppita-haters everywhere.

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Nel didn't know how fast you had to spin a heavy metal ring to make it start to give off a humming noise, but Peppita was presently managing it. She was spinning them in opposite directions, which the tactical portion of Nel's mind reasoned, counterbalanced their forces and made it possible for a featherweight like Peppita to keep them under control without smashing in her own skull like an overripe fruit. In theory, anyway.

In practice-

SPLURT

A chorus of gasps echoed through the ground.

"Well... daaaaamn," Cliff muttered.

Hesitantly, almost fearfully, Nel wiped the mess out of her eyes so she could see clearly. Sure enough, Peppita was now shorter. About a head shorter, to be exact.

Several of the younger children clapped.

"Man, what a way to go."

"She was doing pretty good until the last part, I think."

"Yeah. I wonder what went through her head right before... you know."

"A metal bracelet, obviously."

"Y'know..." Cliff began slowly, "...I'd hate for anyone to think I'm insensitive, but... does this place actually employ any custodians? I mean, I haven't seen any yet..."

"We will," Nel assured him. "_We will._"

"So... does this mean we've got to have Albel in our party after all?"

"There's always Roger, I suppose."

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end


End file.
